Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
by JaeciBae
Summary: While on a quest for the lost city of Shambhala and the Cintamani stone, Nate and Lily caught themselves in a treacherous warzone. Among challenging a ruthless criminal to the gates of Shambhala, the pair must overcome their biggest problem yet... (2 of 4 in the Uncharted saga)
1. Trouble

"Families are the compass that guides us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter." — _Brad Henry_

Blood dripped from my mouth, my ears ringing and my vision momentarily going blurry. I was tied to a chair in the middle of a Venetian storage facility. I had gone to a museum to retrieve Marco Polo's journals, but they had already been taken, so I followed their captors here.

Surrounding me were three military-style thugs, dressed in black body armor and ammo belts. In front of me was a man who I assumed to be their leader. He wore a tight leather jacket over a gray shirt and a pair of jeans. His dirty blond hair was slicked back, exposing his squinty-eyed, proud face.

"So instead of getting your pretty-boy hands dirty, you get one of your goons to hit a girl tied to a chair? Reeeal manly," I scoffed.

"You shut your mouth! You remind me a little too much of another idiot who didn't know when to stop talking. I hope this'll teach you a lesson for sneaking into places you're not welcome, girl," he said in a smug English accent. "Torch the place," he said as he picked up the box of Marco Polo's journals and sauntered away.

One of the guards started dumping gasoline on the floors and shelves surrounding us, then lit a match and threw it on the ground.

"Sorry guys, I've never been one for Kumbaya, but I'm always up for s'mores," I smirked.

The other guard made a face of annoyance and kicked me backwards, trapping me to the chair. I looked up and saw them running out of the building, which was quickly starting to blaze. When I fell backwards, I felt the rope tying my hands hit a sharp part of the metal floor. I started shaking my arms behind the chair, cutting away at the rope. Across the room, pieces of the wooden ceiling collapsed in - I didn't have much time. I moved my arms even more rigorously until the rope snapped, freeing my hands. I stood up, still dazed from my pummeling, and started to dash out of the building, which started to collapse around me. I grabbed my backpack that had been laid by the door and escaped through the front door the guards had luckily left wide open. Moments after I ran outside, the rest of the ceiling collapsed, sending a whirlwind of ash and debris from the building's every orifice.

I jogged down the street until I reached a waterway. I sat on the bench looking over the water to catch my breath. As I sat down, my phone began to ring. Pulling it from my pocket, I noticed my friend Maddie's face light up the screen.

I answered, "Hello?"

"Hey, I heard you're in Venice. Wanna hang?" she asked.

"Sure, I could use some relaxation. I've been working myself to the bone lately."

"Cool, meet me at the southern docks. Three sound good?" she asked.

"Definitely. See you then!"

The two of us took a mini-vacation as we toured Venice for a couple of days. I figured I deserved a break after nearly burning to death.

We'd made plans to go to breakfast at a nearby diner. Walking inside, we were greeted with a rich nautical-themed dining area. As soon as we sat down, my satellite phone rang. Nate had given it to me only for emergencies.

I answered the phone, breathlessly asking "Nate, what's going on?"

"Lillian, it's me, Sully. Nate's been jailed for trying to steal some artifact from a museum in Istanbul."

Shocked at this news, I fell silent for a few moments.

"Ya still there, Lil?" Sully queried.

"Y-yeah, I'm here. What are we gonna do?"

"Well, they set his bail pretty damn high, certainly too high for any one of us to pay on our own. We're both gonna have to do a lot of jobs until we've got enough to get him out."

I was annoyed that Nate was careless enough to get himself caught, but at least he's safe.

"Alright, I guess we've got no other choice, huh? Sucks I won't get to go home for awhile," I responded.

"Yeah, I was hoping to get back to the States for some R&R, but I've got some contacts here who can get us work. Where are you now?" Sully asked.

"Venice."

"Wow, how in the hell did you get lucky enough to get sent there? Anyway, there's a blue building on the northeast end of Main Street, you can't miss it. It's owned by Roger Callahan. We go way back, and he owes me a favor. He can get transport set up to get you over here. Hey, I gotta go, my ride just got here. Call me when you're in the city, I'll come pick you up," Sully instructed.

"Ah crap…" I said as I put the phone back into my backpack.

"What was that all about?" Maddie asked.

"That was a call from a super-important client, and I can't say no to him. I've gotta get going," I frowned.

"Mind if I help out?" she requested.

"I… don't think he'd appreciate more than just me coming along for this, sorry."

"Gotcha," she smirked. "Another time. It was fun palling around with ya for a couple days."

"Totally," I smiled.

I pulled my backpack over my shoulder and started making my way out.

"Let me know when you're free next, I'd love to hang again!"

"Absolutely. See ya later, cutie," she said with a grin and a wink.

"Later!"

I was flustered from her sudden flirtatiousness. I hurried to the exit as my cheeks grew hot from embarrassment.

Stepping outside into the cool, salty Venetian air, I composed myself and made my way to Roger's shop. Above the front doors was a sign reading The Sea Rocket. Inside I found a small bar. Past the bar was a larger room containing small canoes, as well as several boating catalogues, which I assumed advertised Roger's wares that wouldn't fit in a small shop.

Walking up to the bar, I was glared at by the bartender.

"Sorry kid, we don't serve minors here," the rough man grunted.

"Actually, I was looking for Roger. Victor Sullivan sent me here, told me he owes him a favor."

A look of worry came over the man's face.

"Oh, uhh, sure, I can go get Roger for ya, just a sec."

He left the bar and entered a door at the back of the shop. A few minutes passed. Finally, he emerged, followed by a short man wearing a yellow tropical button-down shirt. His build and age were similar to Sully's - in fact, he could be Sully's twin, had it not been for the suave hair and missing mustache. That, and he had a large grin on his face.

"Well, hellooo! My name is Roger, it's a pleasure to meet you," he said effeminately, extending his hand out for me to shake. "I hear Sully's finally cashing in on that favor I owe him?"

I shook his hand. "Yeah, he said you could help get me to Istanbul? I'm Lillian, by the way."

His smile broke. "Oh, I… didn't expect him to need something like that," he sulked. "I can still do it, but… damn, that's a long drive. Follow me, I have a place for you to wait while I prepare for the trip."

I followed him to the back room, which was lavishly furnished with carpets and furniture. I sat on the couch closest to the door. Expectedly, it was the most comfortable seat I'd ever encountered.

"I have some emails to send, then we can get going," Roger said.

I waited for about an hour, nodding off for most of it, until Roger slapped his hands on the desk.

"Okay, Lillian! Are you ready for the trip?"

"Well, no, but I guess neither of us have a choice here, huh?"

"Guess not. Here, grab that crate in front of my desk, we've gotta load up the car. It's gonna be a loooong trip."

We carried a few supply crates out of the shop's back door and stuck them in the back of his Jaguar XJ6, which looked like it was made in the mid-80's. After putting the last crate in the trunk, I got in the passenger's seat and waited for Roger. He locked the back door of the store and sauntered over to the car, gingerly closed the trunk, got in the driver's seat, and gently closed the door.

"By the way, be careful with these seats, they're real leather," Roger warned.

"Yep, I'll be gentle! They're quite nice," I responded.

"Thank you; this baby's my pride and joy!" he said excitedly. "Consider it a privilege to be able to ride in it, especially for so long."

He turned the keys and the engine roared to life. We sped off on the long journey to Istanbul.

"So, Roger… how do you and Sully know each other?"

"Oohh, we go way back to our days in the Navy! It was always 'A woman at every shore' with him! I could never do that though; too much work," he said, smirking. "How do you two know each other?"

I hesitated for a moment, nervous at what he might think of me if he knew of my past, but I decided what happened then shouldn't matter now.

"I actually used to be homeless. I was a petty thief, stealing wallets, food, you name it. One day, I stole the wallet of a man named Nathan Drake, Sully's partner. They caught me and had me help them with a job in place of sending me to jail. I live with Nate now; he's actually why I need to be in Istanbul. He got arrested trying to lift an artifact from a museum, and we're gathering money to pay his bail. As for Sully, he… really hasn't changed all that much, from the sound of it. Did he always have that silly mustache?"

"He still has the mustache? Wow, that old man really doesn't change, huh?" Roger said, laughing. "We simply had different ideas on what we wanted out of life after the Navy. He wanted to stick to that same old life of adventuring, never settling down, all that stuff… it's just so much work. I wanted to set my anchor in somewhere beautiful and help others form a love for the sea similar to my own. That's why I opened a boat shop in the world's most boat-centric city. We keep in touch, though. I'm sure he's told you of his search for El Dorado with Nate and Elena?"

"Of course he's told me; he practically bragged about it," I answered.

"I'm not surprised. I'm glad you guys are going out of your way to help Nate. By the way… how did you get those bruises?"

I was distracted by my time with Maddie that I forgot about the yellowing bruises on my arms, gifted by the grunts from the warehouse.

"I, uh… was going for a jog and tripped down a flight of stairs. I'm just lucky I didn't break anything."

"Well, that's awfully clumsy of you. Try to be more careful next time," he said, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. For some reason it seemed like he didn't quite believe me.

We drove for several more hours until we reached the border to Turkey. There was a guard station checking cars. Roger stopped the car and rolled down the windows.

"Don't say a word; these guys don't mess around," Roger warned.

The guard walked over to the car and grunted something in Turkish, flatly holding out his hand. I assumed he was asking for some sort of document. Roger handed him his ID and passport. The guard checked it and handed it back, nodding. He looked at me and pointed, saying something else in Turkish. Roger, smiling, responded to the man, looking as if he were explaining something. The guard chuckled and waved us through.

We drove through the checkpoint and continued on our way.

"So what did he say when he pointed at me?"

"He asked who you were and why you're so bruised up. I told him you're my daughter and are too young to have any sort of documentation. You were playing football with your friends and happened to clumsily run into someone," he explained.

"Well, you did a good job at talking your way through that. I envy people with that skill."

He leaned toward me, saying "Believe me, in this part of the world, it's behooving to speak several languages and to be able to talk your way through any kind of situation. It could even keep you alive. Sully tells me Nate is masterful at it."

"Yeah, he is," I responded.

The rest of the trip went smoothly. There were several more spurts of small talk, and Roger pointed out several landmarks he thought I would find interesting.

Entering the city, Roger grabbed his flip phone and started a call.

"Hey Sully, it's Roger! We just entered the city. Are you at the spot?" he asked.

Roger had the phone's volume all the way up, so I could faintly hear Sully's gruff voice on the other end.

"Yeah, I'm here. Just pull in, I'll be waiting for ya."

"Okay, we'll be there soon!" Roger said, snapping his phone closed.

We navigated the crowded, bustling city and arrived at a convenience store. I saw Sully sitting on a bench in the shade being offered by the store's roof, smoking a cigar. Noticing the car, he smirked and waved as he got up to greet us.

Arriving to the parking lot, we got out of the car. Roger and Sully walked up to each other and hugged like two brothers who hadn't seen each other in ages. I couldn't help but smile.

"Hey kiddo, how was the ride over? Did this old geezer bore you with war stories?" Sully teased as he hugged me and gave a pat on the back.

"He was great, Sully. I had a wonderful time," I nodded with a tired smile. "The drive was pretty long, though."

"Yeah, seventeen hours, right? By the way, what happened to your face?" Sully asked.

"I, uh… ran into a pole."

"I thought you said you fell down the stairs?" Roger interjected.

"Oh, didn't I mention the pole at the bottom? Slammed right into it," I responded, hoping they aren't seeing through my lie.

"Did the pole fight back? And are those burn marks on your clothes?" Sully questioned.

"I hit the pole and fell against the side of a bonfire pit. I didn't get burnt, though," I lied.

"Sure… Anyway, thanks for everything Roger. I'll take it from here," Sully said to his friend.

"You got it, Sully! By the way, here's my card. I'll be in town for the next few days, so just ring me if you need anything else, 'kay?" Roger handed Sully and I his business card and drove away in his Jaguar.

"God, kid, you are a terrible liar. So what really happened?" Sully queried.

"A job went bad. I was trying to retrieve the journals of Marco Polo and I got caught by some dudes who were going after them too. They tied me up in a warehouse and set it on fire. Luckily they sucked at tying knots, so I was able to untie myself and escape before it collapsed. Please don't tell Nate," I explained.

"Well, seeing as you're still a kid, you did pretty well. Not every job is a winner. You've just gotta keep your head up and don't stop for anything. I won't tell Nate, don't worry. Speaking of which, let's go pay our jailbird a visit."


	2. Escape Plan

I followed Sully to the prison where Nate was being kept. It was a large, disheveled building, filled with angry guards and noisy, rude inmates. We walked up the stairs to the third floor and walked down the hall lined with cells, stopping halfway. Inside was a man laying on a cot, playing shadow puppets with the sunlight coming in the adjacent window. It was Nate.

"You overlooked one little detail, didn't you, partner?" said the right hand.

"What?!" said the left.

"Face it, genius. You've been played," responded the right, which turned into a gun. Nate made a gunshot sound and moved his hands as if the right had shot the left.

Sully stepped in front of the window, blocking the light and interrupting the puppeteering.

"Hey - hey - hey - jackass, you're ruining the show here!" Nate said, annoyed.

"Well damn, I thought you'd be happy to see me!" joked Sully.

Nate's head snapped around to look at us, his face beaming. He got up and raced to the bars.

"Oh man, am I glad to see you guys! So, uh, do you have a plan to get me outta here?" said Nate.

"Yes, but it's gonna take awhile. Lily and I are gonna do jobs and save up some cash to pay your bail. I've already been able to grease a few palms to get it lowered to a more reasonable amount, but it's still gonna take about a month or so. Also, how the hell did you get caught stealing something like an oil lamp?"

"A month?! Sully, I've only been in here a few weeks and I'm already losing it. I have to use that bucket in the corner as a toilet! And don't even get me started on the showers…" complained Nate. "I wouldn't have gotten caught if Harry hadn't double-crossed me."

"I suppose this is your punishment for teaming up with a snake like Flynn. I've never trusted that guy," said Sully.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. By the way, how'd you get those bruises, Lily? And why's your jacket singed?"

The question came as a shock, but I should've expected it; Nate is quite analytical, after all.

"I was going for a jog, and I tripped down a flight of stairs. I fell into a pole at the bottom and-"

"Lily, I can tell you're lying. What really happened?" said Nate with a disapproving look.

"Okay, fine. I was in a building that was on fire and I had to escape. What's the big deal?"

"That doesn't explain the bruises or why you were in a burning building in the first place," prodded Nate.

I glanced at Sully, who was also staring at me with a disapproving look.

"Alright, I was on a job trying to retrieve Marco Polo's journals and got caught. They tied me to a chair, beat me up and left me for dead in the warehouse I was searching in. They suck at tying knots and I was able to barely escape, and they made off with the journals. That's all that happened, I swear."

Nate looked down slightly, rubbing his chin.

"Well, that explains where Harry got the paper that lead us to the lamp. Did one of the goons that attacked you have slicked back hair and a face that's always squinting?" Nate asked.

"Yes!" I replied. "He seemed to be the one leading them. I never even saw his eyes, he was squinting so hard, and what's up with his tight pants?"

"I have no idea," Nate replied, chuckling. "He's an odd man, and certainly not someone I'll be working with again. His name is Harry Flynn. We did a few jobs together, but we were never that close. I haven't heard from him in years. He was never that great at hunting stuff down, so he contacted me to help, since I'm _obviously_ the better treasure finder here," Nate explained.

Nate saying that caused me to realize something: if I hadn't failed at my job, Nate wouldn't be in prison. I felt a familiar depression wash over me. I lowered my head, staring into the abyss of my mind. Noticing this, Nate knelt down in front of me, as close to the bars as he could get.

"Lily, what's wrong?"

Tears started running down my face.

"If I hadn't gotten caught, Flynn never would've gotten those journals, and he never would've taken you to steal that lamp. Without me, you wouldn't be in prison right no-"

My words were halted by Nate's hand being placed on my head.

"Lily, don't blame yourself. I got caught because I wasn't careful enough around Harry. I never should've trusted him so much and I let my guard down. This isn't. Your. Fault. You and Sully are gonna get me outta here, and we'll go get those journals back together… whaddya say?"

I looked up at him and nodded.

"That's the spirit. I trust you guys to get me outta here. One month, right Sully?" he said, glancing at his mentor.

"Give or take," Sully responded, smiling.

"See? I'll be outta here in no time. Now, you guys get outta here. I'm sure there's plenty of work to be done."

Smirking and lighting his cigar, Sully responded "You're goddamn right." While he started walking down the hall, I hugged Nate through the bars. He hugged me back, saying "Hey, I'll be fine. It sucks in here, but the guards aren't gonna let anything terrible happen to me. Besides, you've seen me fight. Don't worry." He ruffled me hair and backed away from the bars. "Go on, Sully's waitin' for ya. I'll see ya later, Lily," Nate said, smiling.

I gave him my best smile and ran off to meet Sully. We've got work to do.


	3. Reunion

Three months later…

Sully and I worked ourselves to the bone, doing jobs around the city and for his contacts. It took what seemed like forever, but we finally saved up enough to pay off Nate's bail. We arrived to the prison, excited to free our friend.

Walking up to Nate's cell, I looked in and saw him sleeping, hanging halfway off his bed, the top of his head resting on the floor and a small stream of drool coming from his mouth. A slender woman with long raven hair had also just arrived.

"Oh, hello there Sully, and you must be Lily. Pleased to meet you; Chloe Frazer," she said in an Australian accent and shaking my hand.

"Hi…? Sully, how does she know us?"

"She's an… associate of Nate and I. She's also pretty close to Flynn, but she's certainly not on his side."

"Hey sleepyhead, wake the hell up!" shouted Sully.

Startled, Nate yelped and fell off his bed.

"Oww… there are other ways of waking a guy up, ya know?"

"Yes, but you tend to sleep like a rock. We're here to bust you outta here," Sully responded.

"Really? Finally!

… didn't you say it would only take a month?" said Nate.

"You know how his estimations are, they're about as accurate as a drunk playing darts across a football field," Chloe joked.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I already paid your bail and the guard gave me the keys. Come on, we've got work to do," said Sully as he opened the cell door.

We walked outside into the bright sunshine.

"Ahh, this feels nice," Nate said, stretching his arms into the air.

"So, there's a hotel down the street, I was thinking you and I could go there and… take a load off?" suggested Chloe, tilting her head and looking sideways at Nate.

I cringed. What happened between him and Elena?

"Uh, Chloe, there's someone well below our age here," Nate said under his breath. "Besides, we have plenty to do; I'm sure Harry's gotten pretty far in these three months."

"Oh… I suppose you're right," agreed Chloe. "So, I've found out Harry's been working for Zoran Lazarević, a Serbian war criminal who NATO thinks is dead… evidently not. I'm not sure what they're looking for, but they've been digging around in Borneo for a few weeks. I figure we should head there and crash their party and find out something we don't. Plus we should take Marco Polo's journals back so we can get a few steps ahead."

Nate responded, "Sounds like a plan! Now, I wanna go grab a bite to eat… Sully, you've been here for awhile, lead the way."


	4. Golden Passport

We hopped on the cheapest plane to Borneo we could find. The flight was nearly fifteen hours - long and arduous. We landed in the Kota Kinabalu airport and rented a jeep. We made our way to the forest Chloe had told us about.

Upon arrival, a wave of moist, hot air hit us when we got out. The ground was wet and squishy. We were surrounded by tall trees and large, rounded boulders, and I'm sure if I wandered off by myself I would never find my way back.

"Well, we certainly picked a great day to do this - the weather's awful today. I guess it's better than rain… anyway, the camp is this way. Here, follow me," instructed Chloe.

We began our trek through the jungle. On the way, I saw tigers, rhinos, orangutans, and elephants rustling in the trees and relaxing in small openings. Thankfully, they kept their distance, and we were all armed, so they were no threat… unlike the goons we'll be facing up ahead.

We arrived at an opening, which led to a small encampment containing small buildings and wooden docks leading between them; it seemed quite similar to the forest in Mexico. Chloe sat down the large backpack she'd been carrying and started handing out the bombs held within.

"I want each of you to place a bomb on the corner support pole of each of these buildings. Be careful, they're quite volatile and could go off if you're not gentle," Chloe instructed.

When she got around to handing one to me, Nate came over and put his hand on the bomb.

"Woah, woah, woah, she is sixteen. That's far too young to be handling explosives like this," Nate worried. "Here, Lily, I can take care of this one."

As he started to grab the bomb, I quickly snatched it away and took a few steps back.

"Nate, I'm not a little kid anymore! I can take care of this myself. You and Sully have taught me so much, so there's no reason why I can't handle this."

"Yes, but you haven't been around anything like this. I think we should wait until we're in a more controlled environ-"

"Just let me do it!" I blurted out, storming off to my assigned building.

Nate watched me walk off with his hands on his hips and an annoyed look on his face.

"Yeesh, they sure are rowdy at that age, huh?" Chloe joked.

"You never should've even had her do it in the first place. Let's just get this done," Nate scowled as he walked toward his objective.

 _What's his problem?_ I thought as I gently placed the bomb against the wooden pole. _He's seen me use a gun, and I've been in more dangerous situations than this before._ I tried to control my temper as we finished our task.

We regrouped at the far end of the camp.

"I'm gonna run up ahead and keep everyone busy until we're ready to blow this place away. You get in position and I'll give you your queue. The guards will rush over here to see what the commotion's all about; that's when you sneak in and take everything you can, just make sure to prioritize those journals," said Chloe.

Nate responded, "You got it. C'mon guys, let's get in position."

Chloe ran off into the jungle. We started down a separate path, following a small stream through a tunnel-shaped clearing of trees. At the end of the tunnel was a small cliff overlooking Lazarevic's camp. A large log sat on the edge of the cliff, which we took cover behind. Sully revealed a detonator he kept in his back pocket and placed his thumb on the button, ready for Chloe's signal. Nate reached into his small pack and pressed a pair of binoculars up to his eyes, scanning the campground.

I spotted a small group of soldiers guarding a small building where two men were having a tense conversation. The one on the left was a tall, skinny man wearing tight clothes which seem uncomfortable. His thick hair was pushed back, revealing his small, squinty, fear-filled eyes. His counterpart was a bulky man wearing all black attire and heavy body armor. He was bald, with half of his intimidating face being covered by burn scars. My body grew tense at the sight of him, as this man is obviously dangerous. Chloe rested her elbow on a window watching the argument play out.

"Let me guess, that's Lazarevic?" I whispered to Nate.

"Unfortunately, yes. Make sure you stay far away from him,"

"You won't have to tell me twice," I assured turning back to the duo. Lazarevic paced the building furiously.

"It's been three months and you haven't found anything!" he huffed in a thick Serbian accent.

"Wait just a minute, we've been-" the man Lazarevic was scolding was cut short. Another pair of guards dragged a young man to Lazarevic's feet.

"We caught this man stealing artifacts from site number five," a guard reported as they threw the man to the ground. The thief struggled to his knees as Lazarevic retrieved a small object from his breast pocket.

"You would betray me for this?" he asked the thief, his face intimidatingly close. Laughing, he tossed the object into the water.

"Zoran, I-I can explain!" the young man stuttered. Lazarevic reached for a pocket strapped to his leg and revealed a military style knife.

"There's no need," he assured. Placing one hand behind the thief's head, he thrust the knife into the man's chest. I found my hand gripping Nate's wrist, cringing at the horrible sight as the body slowly fell into the water below.

Noticing us, Chloe gave a slight nod and a sneaky "okay" sign when Lazarevic's back was turned.

"Why don't we ruin this guy's day?" Sully chuckled as he pressed the detonator. Everyone's heads snapped to the direction of the explosions.

"Search the perimeter!" Lazarevic ordered as Harry, Chloe, and the soldiers sprinted towards the noise. Once the coast was clear, Nate prepared to invade camp.

"It's all yours kid," Sully encouraged.

"We got you covered, Nate. Be careful," I smiled.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," he assured, ruffling my hair. "Stay with Sully and look after yourself," he instructed as he leapt into the muddy water.

"Remember what we taught you and stay alert," said Sully as I reached for my pistol and scanned the grounds. We watched as Nate made his way across the camp. He arrived at the large main structure which contained several artifacts and documents. Shuffling through the papers, he grabbed what looked like scans of Marcos journals. As he folded them and placed them in his pouch, several soldiers arrived back at the camp. Nate hid and grabbed some grenades from a box on a nearby shelf. The soldiers spread out as they searched the area.

Nate snuck from the right side of the building; however, a guard noticed his movement and went to investigate. Once he got close enough, Nate grabbed him and slung him around the corner, knocking him out as he slammed into the box Nate was hiding behind. The other guards heard the noise and started closing in on him. Sully glanced around to make sure no guards were around us and happened to find a sniper rifle a short way away. He sneakily grabbed it and made his way back to the log. "Here, cover me if they start coming up here," Sully instructed as he handed me his revolver.

Sully opened fire on the guards before they made it to Nate. They turned and returned fire. As we took cover behind the log, Nate tossed a grenade out from behind his crate, which landed between three soldiers. As it exploded, their bodies flew through the air. Sully continued firing on the remaining soldiers, slowly taking each one out. Just before the squad was finished off, several more soldiers arrived and immediately started opening fire on Nate. Another group of them started closing in on Sully and I from the other end of the cliff.

"That's your queue, kid! Take 'em down!" shouted Sully as he took another soldier down.

I aimed Sully's revolver at the enclosing soldiers, who were all firing at us. As I aimed, my mind flashed back to my father pinning Nate to the ground. My aim started to shake as the emotional memories started flooding back. As tears filled my eyes, I heard Sully's supportive voice behind me.

"Kid, if you don't take those guys out, none of us are gonna make it out of this! Nate trusts you, and I sure as hell trust you, now get your ass in gear!"

I took a deep breath and let it out. My aim steadied as I recalled what Sully taught me. I opened fire on the guards. Each bullet hit a vital point, causing the wave of soldiers to collapse to the ground, each body causing a small thud as they fell.

As I finished taking out the most immediate threat, I heard explosions from down in the camp as Nate continued throwing grenades. He had moved to the other side of the camp now in order to avoid getting too close to the attackers. Sully and I continued giving Nate supporting fire, taking down several other soldiers. Suddenly, a large machine gun started firing at Nate from a small tower on the side of the encampment. Unfortunately, the soldier operating it was out of Sully and I's sight, so all we could do was continue firing at the enemies on the ground. Nate got in position and threw a grenade through an opening in the tower. As it exploded, the top of the shabby metal tower exploded, with the rest collapsing to the ground. As the dust cleared, I saw a ravaged battlefield littered with bodies and twisted metal.

Sully put his hand on my shoulder and gently turned me away from the carnage.

"Best not to focus on it too long," he advised.

As Nate arrived back up on the cliff, we ran over to meet him.

"Geez Nate, that closer than a fat man's ass cheeks!" Sully commented. I don't think I'll ever fully understand his Sully-isms, but they're always fun to hear, especially at times like this.

"Yeah, I know, but at least we got what we came for," Nate smiled as he pulled the journal copies from his back pouch. "I also saw some reports on every expedition to find Shambala - all the way back to 1600." He laid the journal out on the log.

Nate read the journal aloud. "'The worthy pilgrim is granted a golden passport to conquer obstacles on his journey to Shambala. It is with great sorrow that I left my fellow travelers to their fate - a fate decreed by the dreadful cargo we bore from Shambala. I would have sooner endured the wrath of Kublai Khan himself than remove the Cintamani Stone from that sacred shrine.'"

"... Damn, Sully, I don't think the stone is here."

"Well, if the stone's not here, what the hell is Lazarevic looking for?" Sully asked.

Nate pulled out a map and placed it on the log with the other papers. After momentarily tracing it with his finger, he came to a conclusion. "He must be trying to pick up Marco Polo's trail… back to Shambala… the stone must still be there!" He grabbed the radio from his hip. "Chloe, can you talk?"

"Hold on… yeah, I'm here. What's up?" Chloe responded.

"In all this digging they've done, have they found any bodies, any remains at all?" Nate asked.

"No, now that you mention it, nothing. Why?" she responded.

"Over six-hundred people were shipwrecked here, yet there's no bodies? Don't you find that a little odd?" Nate queried.

"So… where did they all go?"

"A tsunami hit shortly after they wrecked. If that happened, where would you go?"

"... to higher ground!" Chloe realized.

"Exactly. We head to that mountain, what do you bet we find Marco's pals? Chloe, can you meet up with us?" Nate requested.

"Already on my way," Chloe responded.

We made our way through the jungle toward the mountain north of us. We came upon stone steps and began climbing the hill toward the ruins at the top.

"Hey, check it out, stairs." Nate noted, motioning toward the crumbling stairs leading up to the ruins.. I kneel down and examine the architecture.

"I'm stunned they're still intact!" I said, analyzing the steps.

"Hey Lil, race you to the top?" Nate suggested with a dorky smile.

"You're _so_ on!" I encouraged. I sprinted up the stairs, leaving Nate in the dust.

"Hey, not fair! I wasn't ready!" Nate called after me. He took off after me, quicking catching up. I started running even faster, but I couldn't outpace Nate. We were neck and neck, Nate challenging my skills. Luckily, due to my head start, I reached the top first, with Nate arriving shortly after.

"Hey… no fair, you had a… head start…!" panted Nate, tired from the race.

"Another victory for me!" I announced, slamming my fist upwards.

"Another?" asked Nate.

"Remember when we first met? I would've outrun you had Sully not pointed me out," I replied.

"I… remember it differently, but sure, let's go with that," Nate sassed.

At the top was a large hollowed out tree. A carved door curtained by vines lead into a dark tunnel. Sun rays peeked through the cracks of the cave walls dim enough to light the way.

"Hello, what do we have here?" Chloe posed.

"Hopefully the last resting place of Marco Polo's crew," said Nate.

"Shall we check it out?" Sully encouraged. I followed Nate eagerly into the hollow tree, with Sully and Chloe following closely behind. I glanced at the low ceilings where tree roots weaved through the cracks of the boulders.

"Lil, how old do you think this place is?" Nate quizzed.

"The tree must be thousands of years old at least, and the structure looks to be around six-hundred," I concluded.

While accompanying Nate on his jobs, I always enjoyed cave exploring when it was required. Nate gave me advice on determining the age of caves using certain techniques. He would test my knowledge while traversing underground. I brushed my hand over the rocks as I observed the terrain.

"That's my girl," Nate proudly complimented.

"That's incredible Lily," Chloe commendated. "Nate must be teaching you quite a lot."

"I picked up a few things after living this history nerd," I shrugged gesturing to Nate.

"I prefer the term historian," Nate corrected.

"Still just a fancy word for nerd," I reminded.

"She's not wrong Nate," Chloe agreed. I faced my new partner with a smile and gave her a friendly fist bump.

"Sully, help me out here!" Nate pleaded.

"You brought this on yourself kid," Sully chuckled. I continued teasing Nate as we trekked through the tunnel. Natural light quickly faded as continued down the dark corridor. Nate scouted ahead, hopping down a small hole.

"This way!" Nate instructed after landing at the bottom close below. Following his lead, we jumped into the hole and continued down the newfound tunnel. We rounded a corner and came across a large chamber.

"Oh my God…" Sully grunted. My eyes panned to a pile of skeletons tucked in a corner. Nightmarish visions of the zombies we encountered in Mexico haunted me. I could feel my hands slightly shaking as I quickly turned away from the gruesome scene.

"Lily?" Chloe placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"It just… reminded me of something that happened in Mexico," I shakily responded. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm just not quite used to stuff like this yet."

A personal task I assigned myself during these trips was to never burden anyone, specially Nate, with issues I know I can solve on my own. So hearing Chloe express concern was a bit alarming.

"Very understandable, it took me awhile to get used to it. I couldn't tell you how many mummies I've seen at this point," Chloe went on. I responded with a weak smile.

Chloe seemed nice, but I still didn't fully trust her. I didn't understand why Nate never mentioned her until now and why he wanted to keep her a secret. But my optimistic attitude had me believe we can become friends. I wanted to try for Nate's sake.

"Look at their teeth...they're all black," Nate observed with disgust. Chloe knelt beside the pile of skulls and began examining them.

"Eugh," she gasped. Growing weary of looking at corpses, I explored the rest of the chamber for clues. I eventually found a small hallway filled with barrels.

"Hey guys, I think I found something!" I announced to my group. Everyone ran over, eager to see what I discovered.

"They must've carried their cargo all the way up here after they were shipwrecked," Chloe remarked.

"That must've been backbreaking!" I said as I imagined Polo's crew lugging the barrels through the tough terrain.

As I began examining the cargo, my foot brushed against pebbles that shone turquoise, a material I recognized as resin.

"Check this out," I said addressing to Nate. I gathered the pebbles in a clearing between the barrels so everyone could see.

"More resin?" Nate rubbed his chin, deep in thought.

"Hey Sully, give me a light," he requested, reaching for a torch mounted on the wall. Taking Sully's lighter, he placed the resin in the torch and set it ablaze, illuminating the room in a beautiful shade of blue. I watched as Nate surveyed the room until he dropped his head. His eyes narrowed as he rotated, scanning the ground.

"This...is blood!"

I gasped at the horrific sight. I was standing in a thick puddle of dried blood. Most of the ground was splattered, revealing the grim event that took place years ago.

"Looks like a massacre," Sully deducted. With our new found light, I noticed the room expanded further than I initially thought. I started exploring further into the cave, the blue-shaded blood shimmering on the walls. A wave of curiosity enveloped me, encouraging me to investigate.

"What's up Lil?" asked Sully as I wandered into the dark.

"I think this goes somewhere. Mind giving me some light, Nate?"

Nate was at my side immediately and we cautiously ventured into the chamber. With my eyes focused on the trail, I made sure not to traverse too far.

"Lil, watch out for the-" Nate warned. Before I could react, my forehead smacked against the cold stone wall. The impact sent me tumbling back.

"Mother trucker, that hurt!" I cursed as I pressed my palm against my injury.

"You alright Lil?" asked Nate as he offered help.

"Yeah, nothing I can't walk away from," I assured. Taking his hand, I swiftly rose to my feet.

The blue light revealed a large door where the blood trail continued on the other side.

The door led to a small room filled with bodies, all of whom had black teeth. In the middle of the room shone sunlight from a hole in the ceiling. The light rested on a body clutching a decrepit box. Nate slowly walked up to the man and knelt down, placing his hands on the box.

"Careful Nate, could be a trap," warned Sully.

"Ah, Sully you worry too muc-AAHH, AAHHH!" yelled Nate as he fell towards the body. My heart sank, as I thought something had happened to him. Everyone else looked just as worried.

Nate looked back with a smile. "I knew you guys would fall for it."

"Oh, you utter bullock!" shouted Chloe.

Nate retrieved the box from the corpse and laid it on the ground in front of us. He opened it, revealing a golden, ornate dagger, wrapped in what looked like old paper. Nate removed the artifacts from the box, unrolling the paper and holding the dagger in his hand.

"Man, is that an ugly freakin' thing," said Sully.

"What is it - some kind of weapon?" asked Chloe.

"No - no, it's a Phurba. It's a ritual object, from Tibet. It's used to destroy obstacles… ya know, spiritual ones." answered Nate. "... wait a minute, could this be what Marco Polo was talking about?"

"Kid, I don't even know what the hell you're talking about," retorted Sully.

"In his journal, Marco Polo wrote that the worthy seeker would be given 'a golden passport to conquer obstacles on the journey to Shambhala,'" explained Nate.

"Sure, that's interesting and all, but where the hell is it a passport to?" said Sully.

Nate picked up the paper he had previously laid on the ground and began reading. "'Between Greater India and the province of Tibet lies a field of exquisitely finished temples, hundreds of gilded spires stretching as far as the eye can see. In all these many temples, only one conceals the secret path to Shambhala - and that path shall only be revealed to the pilgrim who bears the golden passport.'"

Sully and I peeked over Nate's shoulder. Beside the text was a crudely drawn set of mountains with a line drawn to what I could only assume was our next destination.

"Hold on, I know this place. It's in Nepal," Sully noticed.

"Yeah, except it's not just a field of temples anymore, it's a city," replied nate.

"Well, that could make things a little more challenging," said Chloe. "Anyway, what are we waiting for? Let's get outta here."

We started to make our way out of the cave. After a dark trek through the tunnels, we finally arrived at the hole we entered through.

"I'm gonna go out and make sure the coast is clear. See you in a bit," said Chloe. She climbed out and snuck off.

Sully and Nate helped each other out of the hole. Nate reached his hand down. I grabbed it and he hoisted me from the cave. Shortly after, we heard voices from just outside the ruins.

"Harry, in here! It's Drake!" I heard as I got my bearings. It was Chloe, who appeared around the corner and was now pointing a gun at Nate. Harry ran into the tree, followed by three armed guards. Nate started walking toward Harry, but Sully stopped him.

"That's pretty ballsy for a guy who's spent the last three months behind bars," teased Harry.

"Better than pissing away three months in the jungle without a clue," retorted Nate.

"Found the ships, though, didn't I?"

"You couldn't find your own ass with both hands," sassed Nate.

"With a compass," I added

"And a map," noted Sully.

Chloe walked over to Harry.

"They came from down there," she said, motioning to the hole leading to the cave and handing the map to Harry.

"Speaking of maps…" Harry said as he slowly started reading. "..between India and Tibet… one temple will reveal a -"

"A pathway to Shambala. Jeez, Flynn, while we're young!"

"Looks like he put more work into styling his hair than learning to read, huh Nate?" I joked.

"Listen here you little… wait, you? You were supposed to die in that warehouse!"

"Looks like you don't put more care into _anything_ besides your hair, then? Can't even remember the girl you stole Marco Polo's journals from and left for dead," I teased."Not even using your own gun, either. Does the pretty boy not want to get his hands dirty?"

Harry's brow furled as he gritted his teeth.

"Lily, you don't want to upset him too much. Remember, he's the one with guns," Nate whispered. "Sweet burn, though."

"Take them to Lazarevic! You're gonna wish you'd stayed in that prison, mate," Harry snarled as he and a soldier crawled down the hole, disappearing from sight.

"Move," ordered Chloe, still training her gun on Nate.

The guards behind us, we started walking from the tree. Once outside, Chloe turns around and pistol whips the guard on our left. The other solder fired a bullet from his AK, which grazed Chloe's arm. As Sully was trying to wrestle the gun from the soldier, Chloe shot him down.

Chloe walked up to Nate. "Shit, this hurts! At least it'll make it more believable. Now, I'm gonna try buying you some time." She kissed Nate and ran off.

"Let's go," Nate said as he started running.

"I like her," Sully commented, him and I following closely behind.

"Yeah, I bet you do."

Harry and the guards, alerted by the gunfire, started chasing us.

"Shit, they spotted us! Run for it!" Nate shouted.

We sprinted along the cliff, quickly reaching a large gap.

"Jump!" commanded Sully. Without thinking, I used my momentum and jumped as far as I could, barely making it to the other side. Just after landing, the cliff behind us broke away as Nate landed on it. Thankfully, he was able to grab hold of a thick tree vine and climb back up. We continued sprinting down the hill, dodging bullets and tackling soldiers off the cliffside.

We soon reached the end of the cliff, which overlooked a massive, rushing river. We hid on a narrow ledge on the cliffside, as the soldiers were still firing at us.

"Damn it, now what?" questioned Sully.

"Well… I guess we jump," said Nate hesitantly. "Sorry Lily, I guess I can't protect you from everything."

"Who said I needed protecting?" I snapped.

"You're still learning, so you're not ready to do everything by yourself yet. We can discuss this later," he said, slightly raising his voice.

"So, Sundance, you suggest we break our necks by jumping two-hundred feet into a raging river?" Sully complained.

"Well, if we get caught, Lazarevic'll break 'em for us."

Turning to Nate, Sully said, "Listen, I don't have your luck, and I'm getting too old for this bullshit. Guys like me got to know when to walk away from the table. You go meet your girl in Nepal, I'm going somewhere warm. And before you try talking me out of it, you can tell me all about it when you get back. Now shall we-?"

"After you, Butch. Lily, when you land, make sure to enter at an angle, crossing your arms and feet."

"Got it."

Sully and Nate jumped off, shouting as they fell. I looked around the corner and saw Harry and his goons were nearly here. Gazing at the dizzying drop before me, I hesitated, but upon seeing Nate and Sully safely floating down the river waving up at me, I knew if I landed right, I'd be fine. I forced my body to ignore the fear and jumped. I fell for what felt like ages, the air rushing up past me. Looking down, I saw the river quickly coming toward me. Following Nate's instructions, I crossed my arms and legs, making sure to put my legs slightly forward. I plunged into the water, which was deeper than I expected. As I shot toward the bottom, I tried uncrossing myself, but the water pressure was too great. I slammed into the rocks at the bottom, injuring my shoulder. I pushed off the ground, climbing towards the water's surface, gasping for air as I reached the top.

Doing the logical thing, I just let the river carry me away from danger, keeping my feet in front of me just in case I came across rock clusters. After floating for awhile, I reached a fork in the river where Nate and Sully had climbed onto land.

"Nate!" I called out. He looked over and ran to the water, reaching his hand out. I grabbed it, holding on tight as he pulled me from the waves. I looked to my shoulder, which was covered in blood.

"Oh my God, what happened to your shoulder?" he asked, a panicked look on his face.

"I just bumped it when I hit the river bottom. I'll be fine," I said, trying to keep a proud look my face.

"That's bleeding pretty heavily. We've got to patch it up as soon as we can. Here, I have some old bandages in my pouch, but we'll have to replace it as soon as we get to the motel," Nate said as he retrieved a roll of wet bandages from his satchel. After squeezing the water from the roll, He lifted my arm up and sightly wrapped my shoulder in the gauze. I winced at the pain, doing my best to push through it.

After patching me up, we headed back to the motel, prepared for the next day, and caught a flight to Nepal.


	5. Cold Shoulder

Behind the guards was an arch leading to the hotel courtyard, which featured decrepit brick walls on all sides, each with its own row of dying bushes in front of it. In the middle was a shattered fountain, leaking water into small puddles surrounding it. Chloe led me down an alley next to the courtyard where there was a locked gate on the courtyard's left wall.

"Watch and learn," Chloe said as she pulled a bobby pin from her pants pocket. Skillfully maneuvering it in the lock, it quickly popped open, gaining us access to the courtyard. She sneakily opened the gate, making sure to keep it from squeaking.

"Now, I want you to climb up on the wall behind the soldier on the right," she whispered. "I'll take the one on the left. Once we're both up, we'll drop on them both simultaneously."

She motioned for me to follow as she snuck toward the front wall. Recalling what Nate taught me about climbing, I vaulted to the top of the wall, where I waited for Chloe to get in position. She climbed to the top of her side and formed the number three with her fingers, which then became a two, and finally a one. We dropped on the guards, strangling them until they passed out. Chloe motioned for Nate to come over, as he had been watching from the shadows across the street.

"I'm glad things worked out well. You did well," Nate said patting my head.

"You see? She's perfectly capable if you give her a chance," Chloe noted.

"Who said I haven't been giving her chances? She's here, isn't she?"

"Nate, every time we've come across something remotely dangerous, you've had her stand on the sidelines. Meanwhile, she's proven herself several times already. You told me about what happened in Mexico; she saved your life! She killed her own father for you! And in Borneo, she killed several soldiers by herself when Sully was cornered. You need to stop treating her like a helpless child, because she's not. You said you'd teach her, so start living up to your promise."

I stood there stunned at Chloe's sudden defense of me. We've only known each other for a few days, and she's already noticed Nate being over protective. She's no Elena, but I'm really starting to like her.

"Chloe, I've never been treating her like a helpless child, I just don't want her to get hurt-"

"Nate," I said, my voice still recovering from Chloe's barrage, "I agree with her. You've been sheltering me like a puppy this whole time, meanwhile you promised to teach me how to be better at this, but all I've seen you do is worry about me. You said you saw potential in me, so why aren't you helping me learn?"

Nate quickly glanced between Chloe, myself, and the hotel entrance.

"We… we've gotta get going," he said solemnly. "We can talk about this later, Lillian." He started across the courtyard, his head slightly lowered.

"Chloe… thanks. I don't think I would've ever garnered the courage to say that, but he needed to hear it," I said.

"No problem, love, and don't worry, he'll get over it. Nate likes to sulk, but he's not one for grudges. Come on, let's go."

Entering the hotel's front doors, we were greeted by a dusty, dark lobby, which clearly hasn't been used since the rebellion started. Compared to the warzone outside, it was eerily quiet. We walked to the elevator, which luckily still had power.

The elevator was adorned with walls of glass and a golden metal covered in a luxurious yet run-down maroon design. We piled in and Nate pressed the button for the top floor, initiating our awkwardly quiet ascent.

After a couple silent minutes, we finally reached the top. As we exited the elevator, an explosion from the street rocked the building, causing the elevator to plummet to the ground, shattering as it slammed to the ground.

"Well… that was close," Nate said, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, too close. Let's finish up here before this whole building collapses," Chloe responded.

Suddenly I heard the roar of a helicopter as it soared passed us. It had several missile launchers on the wings, and a machine gun on the front. _I really hope we don't have to deal with that thing_ , I thought.

Nate started running and leapt from the rooftop, landing safely on another building, with Chloe following shortly afterwards.

"Lily, you can do it! Just run as fast as you can and jump, it's not that far! Just don't look down!" Nate called from the other roof.

I focused on Nate and Chloe, took a deep breath, and yelled as I sprinted toward the edge. Ignoring all instincts, I jumped. As I soared through the air, I could sense the several stories of nothingness below me. As I started to drop, I could see the other side getting closer and closer until I slammed into the gravel below. Luckily, Nate and Chloe were able to pad my fall to keep me from getting hurt, catching me as I arrived.

"See? Piece of cake," Nate joked.

"Yeah…" I said, my hands shaking.

We continued our way across several rooftops, fighting soldiers as we went. Each jump was terrifying, however the fear lessened as we went on. We finally got to a roof where there was still an intact fire escape. As we walked toward the stairs, I heard the familiar roar of a helicopter's blades. It soared over us, hovering as it spun up it's gun.

"Take cover!" yelled Nate, who pushed me behind a brick wall. I heard the deafening rain bullets slamming into the other side of the wall as I waited for the gun to reach its point of overheating. I noticed a row of grenade launchers sitting on the wall adjacent from me.

"Nate, we can use those grenade launchers to take it out!" I shouted.

The bullets stopped. Nate dove toward the line of weapons and tossed one to Chloe.

"Lily, you stay down while we handle this." Nate commanded.

"Nate, I'm done hiding, I'm going to help!"

"Fine, then take this rifle and cover our backs," he said as he forcefully threw his AK at me. He ran off toward the helicopter, firing grenades at it. It was heavier than I imagined, but I knew the basics of using it from watching Nate and Chloe.

More soldiers appeared on the roof where the helicopter was hovering. I took aim and pulled the trigger. As the gun fired, I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder from the rifle stock hitting me, causing me to stagger backwards. I hadn't expected the thing to have so much kick, but I wasn't surprised. I took aim again and pulled the trigger. I saw red spurt out of a soldier's head as he flew back. I repeated this for the other two remaining, taking each out in a single shot.

I heard the helicopter's gun start shooting again, and it started raining missiles down on us. Bullets started coming at us from the opposite side as well; more soldiers had shown up. I mowed them down with ease, just I had done to the others. Nate and Chloe were still firing grenades at the helicopter; I could feel the deafening explosions shaking through to my spine. I laid the rifle down and grabbed a grenade launcher, proceeding to join my party. The three of us vollied a barrage of grenades at the helicopter. It took heavy damage with every impact, causing its various parts to fall all around us. My four grenades had run out, and I had no extra ammo. Tossing my weapon to the ground, I dove for the line of remaining launchers. Landing on my back, I grabbed one and fired a round a the helicopter. It crashed through the glass of the cockpit, blowing the interior to pieces, causing the vehicle to spiral to the ground, crashing into a ball of fire and smoke. Tossing the weapon to the ground, I wiped the sweat from my brow and breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was a close one, huh?"

"Yeah, and you did a great job. That was a sweet shot hitting the cockpit!" Chloe said. "I hope to see more of that later."

"I agree, that was impressive. Just try not to land on your back; that's what'll get ya killed," Nate sassed. "Try and be more careful next time. Let's get going, we've still got quite a bit of ground to cover."

A smile coating my face, I followed Nate and Chloe to the last building on the block. Going through a door on the roof, we followed the stairs down to the first landing we could reach, which certainly wasn't on the first floor. We entered an L-shaped room featuring several desks, along with some plants lining the walls. We heard muttering around the corner.

"Stay here, I'll check it out," Nate whispered. He snuck up to the corner and peeked around. Tensing up, he walked back with a worried look on his face.

"Okay, there are five guys around that corner. Here's the plan-"

Before he could finish speaking, the building shook, dust falling from the ceiling. Another helicopter rose to the window to our right, firing a missile at the wall, blowing it to pieces.

"Get down!" Nate shouted, pushing us to what remained of the wall. This alerted the guards to our presence. They appeared around the corner and started firing upon us. Nate shoved a pistol in my hands and pushed me into a desk that had fallen to its side. Him and Chloe shot at the helicopter to keep it from getting any closer. With Nate obviously trusting me with a pistol now, I took aim at the soldiers and shot. Each of my bullets hit its mark, taking each one down in a single hit.

"We can move up!" I yelled over the rain of bullets. Nate, looking over with a surprised face, nudge Chloe and motioned toward me; her face also bore the same element of surprise. They waited for the gunfire to stop and ran to the other end of the room as I followed shortly behind. Just before we reached the exit, the helicopter blew apart another wall, shaking the building.  
"Run!" shouted Nate. We sprinted from the room and down the stairs the door led to. After going down several flights, we were stopped by stairs that had collapsed from the damage caused to the building. Having no other choice, we entered a room. It was similar to the previous room, featuring office furniture and small shrubs lining the walls; the only thing separating this room from the previous one was its open square shape and windows lining the walls. Some soldiers were in the room, who immediately started shooting at us. We took cover behind the desks, waiting for the opportune moment to attack. To our dismay, the helicopter appeared in the window across from the entrance, firing missiles into the building once more. I felt the supports buckling as the building quaked. The items in the room slowly started sliding toward the wall with the helicopter; the building was starting to collapse. Despite this, the soldiers continued their barrage.

"We're gonna have to jump!" shouted Chloe, who sprinted toward the window as she fired at the soldiers, taking a couple down as she went. By now the building was nearly in a free-fall. Nate and I followed Chloe to the window, which had shattered due to the buckling structure. The building had fallen to the level of a window in the one adjacent to us. Nate fired at the window, shattering it so we could jump through. We leapt from the crumbling structure, barely making it across before the other area fell. I laid on the floor, dazed from our close encounter with death. I took a deep breath and sat up. I looked to Nate and Chloe, obviously exhausted from what we just endured. We sat there until everyone had recovered and continued on.

Walking to the other end of the small building, we came across a cable linking to the wall of yet another structure. On the other end was an open window that led to a staircase which opened to the street on the other side of a tall fence a few levels down. Chloe slid down first, using her pistol to make her way across. I followed shortly after, giving the familiar feeling of flight I had experienced while jumping across rooftops. I climbed into the window, Chloe smiling and patting my back as I did.

"Come on over!" called Chloe, motioning to Nate. He mounted the cable and started sliding down. Suddenly, the cable snapped, causing him to grab the cable and slam into the wall. His grip loosened, causing him to plummet to the ground, slamming his side against the pavement below.

My gut sank.

"Nate, are you okay?!" I shouted. A moment passed without a response. "Nate?!"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a bit banged up. You guys make your way down, I'll meet you at the other side!"

We made our way down to the street, luckily avoiding any soldiers that may have been lurking about. Strolling around the block, we walked down an alley and came across an ornate fountain. Nate had already made his way there. He was arguing with a man and woman. As we walked closer, I realized the woman was… Elena?!

I froze in place, as Nate and Elena had clearly had a falling out. I slowly crept back behind the corner, peeking around to keep an eye on the situation.

The man suddenly tackled Nate.

"Jeff, stop!" Elena called out.

"Wait, you know this guy?"

"Yeah," responded Elena as she pulled Jeff back to his feet. "This is Drake."

"Oh. Sorry," Jeff apologized. Reaching his hand out to help Nate back up, Nate declined, standing up himself.

"So what's your angle on all this misery? You gonna plunder a few temples? Loot the museum?" Elena mocked.

"Sure, Elena, that's definitely what I'm gonna do," said Nate sarcastically. "I suppose you're here for some noble crusade, right?"

Elena opened a small pocketbook. "Actually, we're trailing a fugitive war criminal - Zoran Lazarević. Have you heard of him?"

"Isn't that NATO's job?" Nate asked.

"Well, they think he's dead - killed in some bombing raid."

"Oh, and you're here to prove otherwise."

"Y'know what? This guy's a real monster, Nate. We're talking torture, mutilation, mass executions… But see, now he's - he's plotting something new, but why out here? Why tear apart hte city, y'know? It just doesn't make any sense…

Nate looked away, shrugging.

"Oh no - tell me you don't have anything to do with this."

She looked passed Nate directly at me. "Lily, is that you?!"

"Oh, uh… hi, Elena," I said, slowly emerging from my hiding spot.

"You brought _her_ here too, Nate?!"

"It's not what you think!" he insisted.

"Enlighten me, then," Elena huffed.

Before Nate could speak, I chimed in. "Uh… this was supposed to be a historical research trip to an archeological site. We happened to have to had to travel through the city," I said nervously. "Please don't be mad, he didn't mean to."

"Lily, I know when you're lying, and why wouldn't I be mad?! Even if you were telling the truth, you could've circumvented this whole place, you can hear the fighting from miles away."

Chloe, who had been hiding with me, ran up to them.

"There you are, Nate. I think I lost them. Who are these blokes?"

"Oh, they're, uh… journalists."

"Well, we need to keep moving if we want to stay one step ahead of Lazarević, so - "

"Oh, man, Nate…" Elena sighed, irritated.

"Hey, wait now, don't just to conclusions, Elena."

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I sensing some history here?" Chloe asked, laughing.

Elena stepped forward and shook Chloe's hand.

"Elena Fisher, last year's model."

"Haha, cute," Nate laughed sarcastically.

He pulled Chloe aside, who had also been chuckling.

"I'm glad you find this so funny," said Nate angrily.

"Well, it's just I never figured you for the white-bread, picket-fence type," she sassed.

"She's a lot tougher than she looks, thank you."

"Actually, he's not exaggerating. I've seen her fight against an entire army before," I said in Elena's defense.

"Really? That's neat, but… ohhh, she broke your heart, didn't she?" Chloe said, running her finger down Nate's face.

"Oh, please. Y'know what? Maybe I broke hers."

"Oh yes, Casanova. Anyway, we need to get moving."

"Uh, wait… um, they're coming with us," Nate added.

"You can't be serious," Chloe objected.

"Yeah, I am. I can't just ditch them in the middle of this mess - "

"They're only going to slow us down. If Lazarević catches us together…"

"I'm not leaving them behind," Nate said as he started walking over to Elena.

"You don't always have to play the bloody hero, ya know. Just… dance with the one who brought you, alright?

"We don't need saving, Nate," Elena chimed in.

"Thank you," Chloe said.

Suddenly, another helicopter flew overhead.

"You might wanna rethink that. Run!" shouted Nate.

We all ran further into the alleyways to escape the helicopter. We came upon a small courtyard hidden among the buildings. It contained another fountain, along with several flower pots containing complex flower arrangements, withering due to weeks of neglect.

Soldiers emerged from the buildings and started firing at us. We took cover behind the crates strewn about the area as bullets ricochet around us. I brandished my pistol and readying it to take down these enemies. I aimed and pulled the trigger. Rather than the normal blast, it made a quiet click. Out of ammo, I had no way of helping from behind cover. I peeked over the boxes and noticed an entrance behind the soldiers. The building on that side was small, so rather than sit there and wait for the rest of my group to take care of the situation, I sprinted in the opposite direction.

"Lily, come back, it's not safe!" shouted Nate.

"Neither is sitting here getting shot at! I've got a plan, I'll be back!" I replied.

As I ran around the building, the helicopter reappeared and started shooting at me. I could feel the stones scattering behind me as the bullets hit the ground. I spotted the entrance leading to the other side of the courtyard. I dove through the archway into the small entrance room, barely avoiding the chopper fire.

As I stood up, I saw a small cache of weapons gathered in front of me. Among them was a box of grenades. I grabbed the box and put it on the ground in front of the courtyard entrance for easy access. I pick up a grenade, pulled the pin, and tossed it into the closest group of soldiers. As it exploded, I saw them disappear in a ball of fire and dust. The deafening noise nearly knocked me off my feet, but I couldn't stop yet. I threw another couple grenades at the rest of the soldiers, then armed myself with an AK47 and started firing, not stopping until I couldn't hear any return fire. The dust cleared, revealing the bodies of the soldiers strewn around the garden.

"Lily, do you have any idea how dangerous that was?!" Nate reprimanded.

"Um, you're welcome!" I retorted. "I saved us!"

He walked over to me. "Have you ever even used a grenade?! This thing could've killed you!"

"I've never used one, but Sully did a great job at teaching me about how they work. You hold the lever, pull the pin, and throw. It's simple, yet you still don't trust me to do such an easy thing!"

"Because I don't want you to get hurt, okay? Yes, we're in a warzone, but you can at least stay somewhat safe by following my instructions."

"Nate, she saved our asses, and you sure are being one right now. We need to get going, Lazarević isn't going to wait for our squabbling," interjected Chloe.

"Fine. We'll settle this later, Lillian. Let's go," said Nate solemnly.

We continued through the city until we reached the temple. The entrance was made of dark wood, with several ornate carvings and carpets laid about.

"Elena, Jeff, you guys stay out here and keep a lookout. Lily, Chloe and I will head inside and work everything out," Nate instructed.

"Alright, see you soon," Elena responded.

The inside of the temple featured a pool filled with still, reflective water. On the opposite wall was a large six-armed statue. Each arm was holding an artifact or weapon befitting its size. Nate, after analyzing his journal, started climbing around the room to reach the statue's arms, moving each to match what he has drawn on that page.

I felt a slight quake in the floor. A triangular hole suddenly opened up in the statue's mouth, surrounded by two circles. Nate climbed to it, inserted the Phurba, twisting it once the blade was fully inserted. Suddenly, the water started draining from the pool. Once the last drop was gone, a wall opened up in the hole, directly under where the statue was stationed.

"Great job, Nate! You did it!" I shouted.

"Thanks! You guys head in, I'll be right down," Nate called from the statue.

Chloe and I headed into the dark, dank hidden chamber. I heard quickened footsteps closing in behind us. I glanced back and saw Nate catching up to us.

"Glad you could join the party!" joked Chloe.

"Well, I'm here for the guests, not the favors," Nate said, grabbing Chloe's hand. They walked in front of me, their interlocked hands swinging between them. They quietly joked with each other, chuckling as we walked toward the end of the tunnel. I heaved a slight sigh.

"Feeling lonely back there, Lily?" Nate asked.

"Oh, uh… no, I'm fine."

"Sure. I'm sure you'll find someone someday. You sure you're not too young to be thinking about boys, though?"

"Well, who said I was thinking about boys?" I said with a wink.

"Oh! Well… let's talk about this a little more later," Nate stuttered.

We were nearly to the end of the tunnel. I could see the opening, which led to a large, airy room. Suddenly, the floor dropped out from beneath us, sending us into a freefall. We plummeted into a dark, slightly-flooded room. The ceiling above us closed and spikes emerged from it. Large stone gears started spinning on the wall, causing the ceiling to start descending upon us.

"Ah, crap! Chloe, you see anything?!"

Chloe glanced around the room. Noticing the gears, she called out "Nate, the gears! Shoot the teeth!"

"Got it!" said Nate, brandishing his pistol and shooting out the stone teeth. The bare wheels continued spinning, but the ceiling returned to its original position. A wall opened into the floor, revealing stairs. We followed them back up into the end of the tunnel, reaching the room at the end.

The floor of the room featured the statue in the form of a large red man with a hole in his chest. Several mirrors dotted the numerous platforms lining the walls. Above the man's chest was a large, triangular piece of metal, adorned by snakes with several scales protruding from them.

Chloe pointed the mirror near the tunnel at a smaller stone face on the adjacent end of the room, reflecting its light into the mirror protruding from the statue's mouth. This caused another platform to appear higher in the room. Nate started climbing the scales to reach the new platform, which led to yet another mirror. They continued this process until all four pieces of metal were in place above the man, forming something akin to a Phurba.

Nate walked to a keyhole on the wall next to the last mirror he had to position and inserted the Phurba, turning it until a loud, echoing clunk was heard. This caused the giant one to plummet into the man, causing his mouth to fall open, revealing a deep, dark pit, the walls lined with small wooden bars obviously meant for climbing. The three of us climbed down into the cave, lit only by our flashlights. As we walked further down the tunnel, we were slowly greeted by a faint blue light.

We arrived at an opening, revealing a small, circular room with a huge disc of shining stones in the ground. Adjacent to the narrow tunnel was a small circular stand, adorned by yet another keyhole etched into the perfectly flat top. Unlocking yet another keyhole, the stone disc began protruding shining crystalline columns. They formed into what looked like a path leading into a snowy mountain range.

"Woah…" Nate chuckled. "Guys, I know where that is!"

He took a map out of his pocket, unfolding it and holding it up to the structure.

"It's right here - you see the shape of of that peak, there?" he said, pointing to the rocks. "It's identical to the ones on the map here, which means..." He took a pen from his pocket, biting the cap off with his teeth and holding it there. Pressing the map against Chloe's back, he continued, "... the entransh to Shambhala musht be riiiight… there," he announced, marking the spot on the map with an X. I had to choke down the laughter forming as I heard Nate talking through the pen cap inhibiting his speech.

"So, we did it," Chloe said excitedly.

Nate nodded, smiling at Chloe. He turned and started hugging her. They stared longingly into each others' eyes.

"Great job, guys!" I said, but my words fell on deaf ears. "... I'm still here, guys," I said, but they still didn't break away. "Hey, um…"

My sentence was broken short by the sound of gunshots outside.

"Oh, crap," Nate said as he pulled the Phurba from its slot. "Let's go," Nate commanded as he brandished his pistol.

We climbed from the cave and hid behind a small wall holding up the giant man. Five soldiers were now patrolling the room.

"Shit, they must've gone right through Jeff and Elena," Nate exclaimed. "We've got to get back to the entrance. Chloe, you flank on the left. Lily, you and I will go the right. Let's do this."

Chloe snuck to the left side of the room, stealthily breaking the neck of the soldier patrolling that area. Nate and I went to the other side, doing the same thing to the two guards there. The remaining soldiers noticed us and opened fire. The three of us returned fire, quickly mowing down the enemies.

"Now's our chance! Let's get outta here!" Chloe shouted. We sprinted through the corridors leading back to the entrance, mowing down guards on our way there. Reaching the entrance room, we found a slim trail of blood with no sign of Elena. Bullet holes littered the walls. I felt my gut drop, fearing the worst.

"Come on, let's follow that trail. If they were dead they'd still be here," Nate said.

Opening the large doors, we were immediately greeted by a rain of bullets from the soldiers scattered about the courtyard. Several snipers dotted the windows, their lasers quickly honing in on us.

"Get down!" shouted Nate. He grabbed Chloe and I, shoving us behind a small stone wall. "Chloe, grab that sniper rifle and focus on the ones in the windows. Lily and I will take care of the ones on the ground."

Nate and I rushed to the other stone walls scattered about, taking strategic positions to fight the ground soldiers. I grabbed the rifle on the wall in front of me, aiming it towards the guards, who were quickly closing in on me. Focusing down the ironsights, I pulled the trigger, taking down my target in one shot. I repeated this process until the area was cleared of any danger. Nate, being a seasoned gun fighter, cleared his side in about half the time, and Chloe had already begun supporting his fire, as she already emptied the windows of any snipers.

An eerie silence covered the bloodied courtyard. We jogged toward the entrance gate and discovered Elena taking care of an injured man lying on the ground; it was Jeff, moaning in agony from being shot in the gut.

"You're gonna be fine," Nate said nervously. "You think you can stand?"

"I think so…" groaned Jeff.

"All right, c'mon, I'll help you up," Nate said as he hoisted Jeff to his feet, who put his arm over Nate's shoulders. We started walking toward, going slowly so Jeff could keep up. "Chloe, Lily, you guys open the doors in front of us."

Chloe and I did as Nate said, opening the way for our injured friend. Walking down the alleyways, we made our way back to safety. Suddenly, bullets rained from the other end of the street.

"We've gotta get inside, come on!" yelled Chloe. "Elena, Lily, cover them while I clear the way!" She ran off, clearing debris and opening doors along the way to the only stable building in the area. We fought our way through the ruins, only making it there by the skin of our teeth.

"Come on, in here!" called Chloe. We hurried inside, Elena blocking the doors once they were shut. We walked upstairs to hide from the enemies outside.

"Okay, now what?" worried Elena.

"I… I've gotta rest," Jeff whimpered as he collapsed against the wall.

"No, no, come on, Jeff, we've gotta keep moving, we're almost there," pleaded Nate.

"I've… just gotta be here for a moment, I'll be fine," he responded breathlessly.

I heard a revving engine outside, followed by squealing tired. Something slammed through the wall below, shaking the entire structure and causing the wall behind me to crumble, revealing the street outside, which was now puddling from the rain that had started. Chloe drew her gun on us, ready to play her role of loyal soldier.

"I'm sorry…" she apologized, a pained look covering her face.

Harry, accompanied by two guards, hurried upstairs and aimed his pistol at us.

"Drop the guns. Seriously."

We threw our guns to the ground. I shot Harry a nasty look. He noticed, glaring back at me.

"Not much you can do, girlie. You'll be fine if you do as you're told," Harry smirked. "Get her out of here, she's hurt. Take her to the train," he ordered, motioning to Chloe. The guards led her out of the room. She looked up at us, frowning as she disappeared from sight.

Moments as she left, I heard heavy footsteps trudging up the stairs. A bald man with a burn mark coating the right side of his face appeared up the stairs.

It was Lazarević.

"So… this little man is Drake, hm?" he said in a thick Serbian accent as he approached Nate. "Did you carry him all the way from the temple?" he said, motioning to Jeff. "Shame." He pulled his pistol from the mount on his chest, executing Jeff with a bullet through the forehead.

"No -!" shouted Elena, who started kneeling down to Jeff.

"Ah-ah, back on your feet, girl," Lazarević commanded. Elena froze, then stood back up, turning around to face the towering man. "Now, tell me what you found in the temple," he boldly ordered Nate.

"The answer that you're looking for, okay? I know where the Stone is, but you're not gonna find it without me, so just… just let her go, and I will lead you right to it." Nate pleaded.

Shouting at the top of my lungs, I jumped on Lazarević's back, trying to choke him. He reached around and grabbed my hair, slamming me to the ground. He lifted me by my neck, throwing me against the bookcase lining the wall, causing me to slam my head into the splintered wooden floor as I fell to the ground. I felt the breath leave my lungs. "You are lucky you are a child." Lazarević growled at me as I gasped for breath. I felt liquid dripping from my forehead. I placed my hand on the source, revealing a thick stream of blood as I removed it. He turned back to Nate and Elena.

Lazarević noticed the press ID on Elena's belt, lifting it with the edge of his pistol.

"Ah. My shadow. You are the reporter who's been biting as my heels. You better pray that he is not bluffing. Search him."

Harry walked over to Nate and started to search him. Taking a map from Nate's pocket, he unfolded it and poked the X on the map.

"This is brilliant, mate. Here you are, Zoran," Harry chuckled as he handed Lazarević the map.

Lazarević laughed menacingly. "It appears you have nothing to bargain with, Mr. Drake. Return to the staging ground. Prepare to move out," he ordered. "You, take care of them," he barked at Harry as he shoved Elena to the ground. Lazarević left the room, one of the soldiers following him.

"How can you work for that monster?" Elena asked Harry.

"Beats going against him, love," he responded.

"So that's it, huh?" questioned Nate as he walked up to a guard in the room. "You're just gonna mow us down in cold blood?"

"Looks that way, doesn't it?" said Harry, aiming his gun at Elena. "Get up."

Elena stayed on her knees, silent as her head hung towards the ground.

"I said, get up!" Harry grabbed Elena's arm. She jumped up, slamming her fist into Harry's face.

"Run!" shouted Elena as she jumped from the side of the building.

Nate punched the guard in the face and followed her, grabbing my wrist as he ran, pulling me along.

"You son-of-a-bitch!" Harry shouted as he fired at us while we plummeted to the street. When I landed, I felt a sharp pain in my foot and heard a slight snap. Nate held me up to keep me from falling down. I ignored the pain and sprinted with Nate and Elena. A torrent of bullets shot passed us, rockets exploding just behind our tracks. Continuing through the alley, we vaulted across a gap that had formed in the cobblestone, slamming against the wood planks of a collapsed building. We climbed up and continued running, not stopping until we could no longer hear the echoing sound of gunfire. We entered a small building and sat against the wall.

"You guys alright?" asked Nate.

"Yeah, never better. You?" said Elena.

"Nothing that won't heal. How are you feeling, Lily? That cut's bleeding pretty bad."

"My head doesn't feel too bad, but my foot… I can't really feel it much." I reached down and rolled up my pant leg. The skin near my foot was tinted purple. I unlaced my shoe and tore it off, revealing the swollen purple foot underneath. "Yep, thought so. My foot's broken."

Elena gasped. "We've gotta get that swelling down. Here, let's hope there's still ice in that freezer." She walked over to the fridge sitting against the adjacent wall. Opening the freezer, she discovered a half-melted bag of ice.

"We're in luck!" she said, smiling as she grabbed the bag. "This should take care of the swelling, but we'll need to take care of that bone as soon as possible."

We sat there for about a half hour, finally getting our bearings after fighting so hard. My foot returned to its normal size, although the pain remained. I got my shoe back on and stood up. I was able to apply pressure to it, although it sent a searing pain up my leg. Best to use this foot as little as possible.

We continued through the city, avoiding squads of guards on our way. We arrived on a rooftop overlooking a trainyard and knelt down behind the edge of the front wall.

"I never should've gotten you into this mess." Nate said as he walked over to a window, looking out.

"You didn't. I got here on my own," Elena said.

"Nah, I mean, you know, the rest of it."

"We knew what the stakes were."

Elena walked over to Nate, who was studying the extra map he pulled from his pocket.

"Okay, so, what do we do now?" Elena asked.

"I'm going after her."

"Of course you are… typical. Go after her," Elena retorted, a hint of anger in her voice. "She was about to pull the trigger, Nate. They just beat her to it."

"It's complicated -"

Their argument was starting to anger me. "Nate, how complicated can this be? I'm injured but still alive, and Elena's still okay. I'm starting to wonder how much we can trust Chloe -"

"Lily, you're too young to understand, now stay out of this."

"No, Nate, I'm gonna stand up for myself for once. This entire time you've treated me like a child, yet when we first met, you told me you'd train me. This is the perfect place to do that, but all you've been telling me to do is to go hide! I'm sick of it!"

"Lily, I was just trying to protect you-"

"Then teach me how to protect myself! Chloe of all people was the one letting me do things, and now she's gone, and probably isn't coming back!"

"Lily, stop! I've been doing this for years, and you just started, so listen to me!"

"I've saved your life numerous times in this city! You're not even my real dad, so stop acting like it!"

Nate stood there stunned. Tears welling in my eyes, I ran off the building towards the train, hiding from soldiers as I went. I tucked into the caboose and hid in a box, silently weeping. I felt the train lurch forward as it started moving. I felt myself moving away from the first person to ever care for me, and now I wasn't sure I'd ever see him again.


	6. Friction

Behind the guards was an arch leading to the hotel courtyard, which featured decrepit brick walls on all sides, each with its own row of dying bushes in front of it. In the middle was a shattered fountain, leaking water into small puddles surrounding it. Chloe led me down an alley next to the courtyard where there was a locked gate on the courtyard's left wall.

"Watch and learn," Chloe said as she pulled a bobby pin from her pants pocket. Skillfully maneuvering it in the lock, it quickly popped open, gaining us access to the courtyard. She sneakily opened the gate, making sure to keep it from squeaking.

"Now, I want you to climb up on the wall behind the soldier on the right," she whispered. "I'll take the one on the left. Once we're both up, we'll drop on them both simultaneously."

She motioned for me to follow as she snuck toward the front wall. Recalling what Nate taught me about climbing, I vaulted to the top of the wall, where I waited for Chloe to get in position. She climbed to the top of her side and formed the number three with her fingers, which then became a two, and finally a one. We dropped on the guards, strangling them until they passed out. Chloe motioned for Nate to come over, as he had been watching from the shadows across the street.

"I'm glad things worked out. You did well," Nate said patting my head.

"You see? She's perfectly capable if you give her a chance," Chloe noted.

"Who said I haven't been giving her chances? She's here, isn't she?"

"Nate, every time we've come across something remotely dangerous, you've had her stand on the sidelines. Meanwhile, she's proven herself several times already. You told me about what happened in Mexico; she saved your life! She killed her own father for you! And in Borneo, she killed several soldiers by herself when Sully was cornered. You need to stop treating her like a helpless child, because she's not. You said you'd teach her, so start living up to your promise."

I stood there stunned at Chloe's sudden defense of me. We've only known each other for a few days, and she's already noticed Nate being over protective. She's no Elena, but I'm really starting to like her.

"Chloe, I've never been treating her like a helpless child, I just don't want her to get hurt-"

"Nate," I said, my voice still recovering from Chloe's barrage, "I agree with her. You've been sheltering me this whole time, meanwhile you promised to teach me how to be better at this, but all I've seen you do is worry about me. You said you saw potential in me, so why aren't you helping me learn?"

Nate quickly glanced between Chloe, myself, and the hotel entrance.

"We… we've gotta get going," he said solemnly. "We can talk about this later, Lillian." He started across the courtyard, his head slightly lowered.

"Chloe… thanks. I don't think I would've ever garnered the courage to say that, but he needed to hear it," I said.

"No problem, love, and don't worry, he'll get over it. Nate likes to sulk, but he's not one for grudges. Come on, let's go."

Entering the hotel's front doors, we were greeted by a dusty, dark lobby, which clearly hasn't been used since the rebellion started. Compared to the warzone outside, it was eerily quiet. We walked to the elevator, which luckily still had power.

The elevator was adorned with walls of glass and a golden metal covered in a luxurious yet run-down maroon design. We piled in and Nate pressed the button for the top floor, initiating our awkwardly quiet ascent.

After a couple silent minutes, we finally reached the top. As we exited the elevator, an explosion from the street rocked the building, causing the elevator to plummet to the ground, shattering as it slammed to the ground.

"Well… that was close," Nate said, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, too close. Let's finish up here before this whole building collapses," Chloe responded.

Suddenly I heard the roar of a helicopter as it soared passed us. It had several missile launchers on the wings, and a machine gun on the front. I really hope we don't have to deal with that thing, I thought.

Nate started running and leapt from the rooftop, landing safely on another building, with Chloe following shortly afterwards.

"Lily, you can do it! Just run as fast as you can and jump, it's not that far! Just don't look down!" Nate called from the other roof.

I focused on Nate and Chloe, took a deep breath, and yelled as I sprinted toward the edge. Ignoring all instincts, I jumped. As I soared through the air, I could sense the several stories of nothingness below me. As I started to drop, I could see the other side getting closer and closer until I slammed into the gravel below. Luckily, Nate and Chloe were able to pad my fall to keep me from getting hurt, catching me as I arrived.

"See? Piece of cake," Nate joked.

"Yeah…" I said, my hands shaking.

We continued our way across several rooftops, fighting soldiers as we went. Each jump was terrifying, however the fear lessened as we went on. We finally got to a roof where there was still intact fire escape. As we walked toward the stairs, I heard the familiar roar of a helicopter's blades. It soared over us, hovering as it spun up it's gun.

"Take cover!" yelled Nate, who pushed me behind a brick wall. I heard the deafening rain bullets slamming into the other side of the wall as I waited for the gun to reach its point of overheating. I noticed a row of grenade launchers sitting on the wall adjacent from me.

"Nate, we can use those grenade launchers to take it out!" I shouted.

The bullets stopped. Nate dove toward the line of weapons and tossed one to Chloe.

"Lily, you stay down while we handle this." Nate commanded.

"Nate, I'm done hiding, I'm going to help!"

"Fine, then take this rifle and cover our backs," he said as he forcefully threw his AK at me. He ran off toward the helicopter, firing grenades at it. It was heavier than I imagined, but I knew the basics of using it from watching Nate and Chloe.

More soldiers appeared on the roof where the helicopter was hovering. I took aim and pulled the trigger. As the gun fired, I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder from the rifle stock hitting me, causing me to stagger backwards. I hadn't expected the thing to have so much kick, but I wasn't surprised. I took aim again and pulled the trigger. I saw red spurt out of a soldier's head as he flew back. I repeated this for the other two remaining, taking each out in a single shot.

I heard the helicopter's gun start shooting again, and it started raining missiles down on us. Bullets started coming at us from the opposite side as well; more soldiers had shown up. I mowed them down with ease, just I had done to the others. Nate and Chloe were still firing grenades at the helicopter; I could feel the deafening explosions shaking through to my spine. I laid the rifle down and grabbed a grenade launcher, proceeding to join my party. The three of us vollied a barrage of grenades at the helicopter. It took heavy damage with every impact, causing its various parts to fall all around us. My four grenades had run out, and I had no extra ammo. Tossing my weapon to the ground, I dove for the line of remaining launchers. Landing on my back, I grabbed one and fired a round at the helicopter. It crashed through the glass of the cockpit, blowing the interior to pieces, causing the vehicle to spiral to the ground, crashing into a ball of fire and smoke. Tossing the weapon to the ground, I wiped the sweat from my brow and breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was a close one, huh?"

"Yeah, and you did a great job. That was a sweet shot hitting the cockpit!" Chloe said. "I hope to see more of that later."

"I agree, that was impressive. Just try not to land on your back; that's what'll get ya killed," Nate sassed. "Try and be more careful next time. Let's get going, we've still got quite a bit of ground to cover."

A smile coating my face, I followed Nate and Chloe to the last building on the block. Going through a door on the roof, we followed the stairs down to the first landing we could reach, which certainly wasn't on the first floor. We entered an L-shaped room featuring several desks, along with some plants lining the walls. We heard muttering around the corner.

"Stay here, I'll check it out," Nate whispered. He snuck up to the corner and peeked around. Tensing up, he walked back with a worried look on his face.

"Okay, there are five guys around that corner. Here's the plan-"

Before he could finish speaking, the building shook, dust falling from the ceiling. Another helicopter rose to the window to our right, firing a missile at the wall, blowing it to pieces.

"Get down!" Nate shouted, pushing us to what remained of the wall. This alerted the guards to our presence. They appeared around the corner and started firing upon us. Nate shoved a pistol in my hands and pushed me into a desk that had fallen to its side. Him and Chloe shot at the helicopter to keep it from getting any closer. With Nate obviously trusting me with a pistol now, I took aim at the soldiers and shot. Each of my bullets hit its mark, taking each one down in a single hit.

"We can move up!" I yelled over the rain of bullets. Nate, looking over with a surprised face, nudge Chloe and motioned toward me; her face also bore the same element of surprise. They waited for the gunfire to stop and ran to the other end of the room as I followed shortly behind. Just before we reached the exit, the helicopter blew apart another wall, shaking the building.  
"Run!" shouted Nate. We sprinted from the room and down the stairs the door led to. After going down several flights, we were stopped by stairs that had collapsed from the damage caused to the building. Having no other choice, we entered a room. It was similar to the previous room, featuring office furniture and small shrubs lining the walls; the only thing separating this room from the previous one was its open square shape and windows lining the walls. Some soldiers were in the room, who immediately started shooting at us. We took cover behind the desks, waiting for the opportune moment to attack. To our dismay, the helicopter appeared in the window across from the entrance, firing missiles into the building once more. I felt the supports buckling as the building quaked. The items in the room slowly started sliding toward the wall with the helicopter; the building was starting to collapse. Despite this, the soldiers continued their barrage.

"We're gonna have to jump!" shouted Chloe, who sprinted toward the window as she fired at the soldiers, taking a couple down as she went. By now the building was nearly in a free-fall. Nate and I followed Chloe to the window, which had shattered due to the buckling structure. The building had fallen to the level of a window in the one adjacent to us. Nate fired at the window, shattering it so we could jump through. We leapt from the crumbling structure, barely making it across before the other area fell. I laid on the floor, dazed from our close encounter with death. I took a deep breath and sat up. I looked to Nate and Chloe, obviously exhausted from what we just endured. We sat there until everyone had recovered and continued on.

Walking to the other end of the small building, we came across a cable linking to the wall of yet another structure. On the other end was an open window that led to a staircase which opened to the street on the other side of a tall fence a few levels down. Chloe slid down first, using her pistol to make her way across. I followed shortly after, giving the familiar feeling of flight I had experienced while jumping across rooftops. I climbed into the window, Chloe smiling and patting my back as I did.

"Come on over!" called Chloe, motioning to Nate. He mounted the cable and started sliding down. Suddenly, the cable snapped, causing him to grab the cable and slam into the wall. His grip loosened, causing him to plummet to the ground, slamming his side against the pavement below.

My gut sank.

"Nate, are you okay?!" I shouted. A moment passed without a response. "Nate?!"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a bit banged up. You guys make your way down, I'll meet you at the other side!"

We made our way down to the street, luckily avoiding any soldiers that may have been lurking about. Strolling around the block, we walked down an alley and came across an ornate fountain. Nate had already made his way there. He was arguing with a man and woman. As we walked closer, I realized the woman was… Elena?!

I froze in place, as Nate and Elena had clearly had a falling out. I slowly crept back behind the corner, peeking around to keep an eye on the situation.

The man suddenly tackled Nate.

"Jeff, stop!" Elena called out.

"Wait, you know this guy?"

"Yeah," responded Elena as she pulled Jeff back to his feet. "This is Drake."

"Oh. Sorry," Jeff apologized. Reaching his hand out to help Nate back up, Nate declined, standing up himself.

"So what's your angle on all this misery? You gonna plunder a few temples? Loot the museum?" Elena mocked.

"Sure, Elena, that's definitely what I'm gonna do," said Nate sarcastically. "I suppose you're here for some noble crusade, right?"

Elena opened a small pocketbook. "Actually, we're trailing a fugitive war criminal - Zoran Lazarević. Have you heard of him?"

"Isn't that NATO's job?" Nate asked.

"Well, they think he's dead - killed in some bombing raid."

"Oh, and you're here to prove otherwise."

"Y'know what? This guy's a real monster, Nate. We're talking torture, mutilation, mass executions… But see, now he's - he's plotting something new, but why out here? Why tear apart the city, y'know? It just doesn't make any sense…

Nate looked away, shrugging.

"Oh no - tell me you don't have anything to do with this."

She looked passed Nate directly at me. "Lily, is that you?!"

"Oh, uh… hi, Elena," I said, slowly emerging from my hiding spot.

"You brought her here too, Nate?!"

"It's not what you think!" he insisted.

"Enlighten me, then," Elena huffed.

Before Nate could speak, I chimed in. "Uh… this was supposed to be a historical research trip to an archeological site. We happened to be travelling through the city," I said nervously. "Please don't be mad, he didn't mean to."

"Lily, I know when you're lying, and why wouldn't I be mad?! Even if you were telling the truth, you could've circumvented this whole place, you can hear the fighting from miles away."

Chloe, who had been hiding with me, ran up to them.

"There you are, Nate. I think we lost them. Who are these blokes?"

"Oh, they're, uh… journalists."

"Well, we need to keep moving if we want to stay one step ahead of Lazarević, so - "

"Oh, man, Nate…" Elena sighed, irritated.

"Hey, wait now, don't just to conclusions, Elena."

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I sensing some history here?" Chloe asked, laughing.

Elena stepped forward and shook Chloe's hand.

"Elena Fisher, last year's model."

"Haha, cute," Nate laughed sarcastically.

He pulled Chloe aside, who had also been chuckling.

"I'm glad you find this so funny," said Nate angrily.

"It's just I never figured you for the white-bread, picket-fence type," she sassed.

"She's a lot tougher than she looks, thank you."

"Actually, he's not exaggerating. I've seen her fight against an entire army before," I said in Elena's defense.

"Really? That's neat, but… ohhh, she broke your heart, didn't she?" Chloe said, running her finger down Nate's face.

"Oh, please. Y'know what? Maybe I broke hers."

"Oh yes, Casanova. Anyway, we need to get moving."

"Uh, wait… um, they're coming with us," Nate added.

"You can't be serious," Chloe objected.

"Yeah, I am. I can't just ditch them in the middle of this mess -"

"They're only going to slow us down. If Lazarević catches us together…"

"I'm not leaving them behind," Nate said as he started walking over to Elena.

"You don't always have to play the bloody hero, ya know. Just… dance with the one who brought you, alright?

"We don't need saving, Nate," Elena chimed in.

"Thank you," Chloe said.

Suddenly, another helicopter flew overhead.

"You might wanna rethink that. Run!" shouted Nate.

We all ran further into the alleyways to escape the helicopter. We came upon a small courtyard hidden among the buildings. It contained another fountain, along with several flower pots containing complex flower arrangements, withering due to weeks of neglect.

Soldiers emerged from the buildings and started firing at us. We took cover behind the crates strewn about the area as bullets ricochet around us. I brandished my pistol, readying it to take down these enemies. I aimed and pulled the trigger. Rather than the normal blast, it made a quiet click. Out of ammo, I had no way of helping from behind cover. I peeked over the boxes and noticed an entrance behind the soldiers. The building on that side was small, so rather than sit there and wait for the rest of my group to take care of the situation, I sprinted in the opposite direction.

"Lily, come back, it's not safe!" shouted Nate.

"Neither is sitting here getting shot at! I've got a plan, I'll be back!" I replied.

As I ran around the building, the helicopter reappeared and started shooting at me. I could feel the stones scattering behind me as the bullets hit the ground. I spotted the entrance leading to the other side of the courtyard. I dove through the archway into the small entrance room, barely avoiding the chopper fire.

As I stood up, I saw a small cache of weapons gathered in front of me. Among them was a box of grenades. I grabbed the box and put it on the ground in front of the courtyard entrance for easy access. I pick up a grenade, pulled the pin, and tossed it into the closest group of soldiers. As it exploded, I saw them disappear in a ball of fire and dust. The deafening noise nearly knocked me off my feet, but I couldn't stop yet. I threw another couple grenades at the rest of the soldiers, then armed myself with an AK47 and started firing, not stopping until I couldn't hear any return fire. The dust cleared, revealing the bodies of the soldiers strewn around the garden.

"Lily, do you have any idea how dangerous that was?!" Nate reprimanded.

"Um, you're welcome!" I retorted. "I saved us!"

He walked over to me. "Have you ever even used a grenade?! This thing could've killed you!"

"I've never used one, but Sully did a great job at teaching me about how they work. You hold the lever, pull the pin, and throw. It's simple, yet you still don't trust me to do such an easy thing!"

"Because I don't want you to get hurt, okay? Yes, we're in a warzone, but you can at least stay somewhat safe by following my instructions."

"Nate, she saved our asses, and you sure are being one right now. We need to get going, Lazarević isn't going to wait for our squabbling," interjected Chloe.

"Fine. We'll settle this later, Lillian. Let's go," said Nate solemnly.

We continued through the city until we reached the temple. The entrance was made of dark wood, with several ornate carvings and carpets laid about.

"Elena, Jeff, you guys stay out here and keep a lookout. Lily, Chloe and I will head inside and work everything out," Nate instructed.

"Alright, see you soon," Elena responded.

The inside of the temple featured a pool filled with still, reflective water. On the opposite wall was a large six-armed statue. Each arm was holding an artifact or weapon befitting its size. Nate, after analyzing his journal, started climbing around the room to reach the statue's arms, moving each to match what he has drawn on that page.

I felt a slight quake in the floor. A triangular hole suddenly opened up in the statue's mouth, surrounded by two circles. Nate climbed to it, inserted the Phurba, twisting it once the blade was fully inserted. Suddenly, the water started draining from the pool. Once the last drop was gone, a wall opened up in the hole, directly under where the statue was stationed.

"Great job, Nate! You did it!" I shouted.

"Thanks! You guys head in, I'll be right down," Nate called from the statue.

Chloe and I headed into the dark, dank hidden chamber. I heard quickened footsteps closing in behind us. I glanced back and saw Nate catching up to us.

"Glad you could join the party!" joked Chloe.

"Well, I'm here for the guests, not the favors," Nate said, grabbing Chloe's hand. They walked in front of me, their interlocked hands swinging between them. They quietly joked with each other, chuckling as we walked toward the end of the tunnel. I heaved a slight sigh.

"Feeling lonely back there, Lily?" Nate asked.

"Oh, uh… no, I'm fine."

"Don't worry, you'll find someone someday. You sure you're not too young to be thinking about boys, though?"

"Who said I was thinking about boys?" I said with a wink.

"Oh! Well… let's talk about this later," Nate stuttered.

We were nearly to the end of the tunnel. I could see the opening, which led to a large, airy room. Suddenly, the floor dropped out from beneath us, sending us into a freefall. We plummeted into a dark, slightly-flooded room. The ceiling above us closed and spikes emerged from it. Large stone gears started spinning on the wall, causing the ceiling to start descending upon us.

"Ah, crap! Chloe, you see anything?!"

Chloe glanced around the room. Noticing the gears, she called out "Nate, the gears! Shoot the teeth!"

"Got it!" said Nate, brandishing his pistol and shooting out the stone teeth. The bare wheels continued spinning, but the ceiling returned to its original position. A wall opened into the floor, revealing stairs. We followed them back up into the end of the tunnel, reaching the room at the end.

The floor of the room featured the statue in the form of a large red man with a hole in his chest. Several mirrors dotted the numerous platforms lining the walls. Above the man's chest was a large, triangular piece of metal, adorned by snakes with several scales protruding from them.

Chloe pointed the mirror near the tunnel at a smaller stone face on the adjacent end of the room, reflecting its light into the mirror protruding from the statue's mouth. This caused another platform to appear higher in the room. Nate started climbing the scales to reach the new platform, which led to yet another mirror. They continued this process until all four pieces of metal were in place in place above the man, forming something akin to a Phurba.

Nate walked to a keyhole on the wall next to the last mirror he had to position and inserted the Phurba, turning it until a loud, echoing clunk was heard. This caused the giant one to plummet into the man, causing his mouth to fall open, revealing a deep, dark pit, the walls lined with small wooden bars obviously meant for climbing. The three of us climbed down into the cave, lit only by our flashlights. As we walked further down the tunnel, we were slowly greeted by a faint blue light.

We arrived at an opening, revealing a small, circular room with a huge disc of shining stones in the ground. Adjacent to the narrow tunnel was a small circular stand, adorned by yet another keyhole etched into the perfectly flat top. Unlocking yet another keyhole, the stone disc began protruding shining crystalline columns. They formed into what looked like a path leading into a snowy mountain range.

"Woah…" Nate chuckled. "Guys, I know where that is!"

He took a map out of his pocket, unfolding it and holding it up to the structure.

"It's right here - you see the shape of that peak, there?" he said, pointing to the rocks. "It's identical to the ones on the map here, which means..." He took a pen from his pocket, biting the cap off with his teeth and holding it there. Pressing the map against Chloe's back, he continued, "... the entransh to Shambhala musht be riiiight… there," he announced, marking the spot on the map with an X. I had to choke down the laughter as I heard Nate talking through the pen cap inhibiting his speech.

"So, we did it," Chloe said excitedly.

Nate nodded, smiling at Chloe. He turned and started hugging her. They stared longingly into each others' eyes.

"Great job, guys!" I said, but my words fell on deaf ears. "... I'm still here, guys," I said, but they still didn't break away. "Hey, um…"

My sentence was broken short by the sound of gunshots outside.

"Oh, crap," Nate said as he pulled the Phurba from its slot. "Let's go," Nate commanded as he brandished his pistol.

We climbed from the cave and hid behind a small wall holding up the giant man. Five soldiers were now patrolling the room.

"Shit, they must've gone right through Jeff and Elena," Nate exclaimed. "We've got to get back to the entrance. Chloe, you flank on the left. Lily, you and I will go to the right. Let's do this."

Chloe snuck to the left side of the room, stealthily breaking the neck of the soldier patrolling that area. Nate and I went to the other side, doing the same thing to the two guards there. The remaining soldiers noticed us and opened fire. The three of us returned fire, quickly mowing down the enemies.

"Now's our chance! Let's get outta here!" Chloe shouted. We sprinted through the corridors leading back to the entrance, mowing down guards on our way there. Reaching the entrance room, we found a slim trail of blood with no sign of Elena. Bullet holes littered the walls. I felt my gut drop, fearing the worst.

"Come on, let's follow that trail. If they were dead they'd still be here," Nate said.

Opening the large doors, we were immediately greeted by a rain of bullets from the soldiers scattered about the courtyard. Several snipers dotted the windows, their lasers quickly honing in on us.

"Get down!" shouted Nate. He grabbed Chloe and I, shoving us behind a small stone wall. "Chloe, grab that sniper rifle and focus on the ones in the windows. Lily and I will take care of the ones on the ground."

Nate and I rushed to the other stone walls scattered about, taking strategic positions to fight the ground soldiers. I grabbed the rifle on the wall in front of me, aiming it towards the guards, who were quickly closing in on me. Focusing down the ironsights, I pulled the trigger, taking down my target in one shot. I repeated this process until the area was cleared of any danger. Nate, being a seasoned gun fighter, cleared his side in about half the time, and Chloe had already begun supporting his fire, as she already emptied the windows of any snipers.

An eerie silence covered the bloodied courtyard. We jogged toward the entrance gate and discovered Elena taking care of an injured man lying on the ground; it was Jeff, moaning in agony from being shot in the gut.

"You're gonna be fine," Nate said nervously. "You think you can stand?"

"I think so…" groaned Jeff.

"All right, c'mon, I'll help you up," Nate said as he hoisted Jeff to his feet, who put his arm over Nate's shoulders. We started walking forward, going slowly so Jeff could keep up. "Chloe, Lily, you guys open the doors in front of us."

Chloe and I did as Nate said, opening the way for our injured friend. Walking down the alleyways, we made our way back to safety. Suddenly, bullets rained from the other end of the street.

"We've gotta get inside, come on!" yelled Chloe. "Elena, Lily, cover them while I clear the way!" She ran off, clearing debris and opening doors along the way to the only stable building in the area. We fought our way through the ruins, only making it there by the skin of our teeth.

"Come on, in here!" called Chloe. We hurried inside, Elena blocking the doors once they were shut. We walked upstairs to hide from the enemies outside.

"Okay, now what?" worried Elena.

"I… I've gotta rest," Jeff whimpered as he collapsed against the wall.

"No, no, come on, Jeff, we've gotta keep moving, we're almost there," pleaded Nate.

"I've… just gotta be here for a moment, I'll be fine," he responded breathlessly.

I heard a revving engine outside, followed by squealing tired. Something slammed through the wall below, shaking the entire structure and causing the wall behind me to crumble, revealing the street outside, which was now puddling from the rain that had started. Chloe drew her gun on us, ready to play her role of loyal soldier.

"I'm sorry…" she apologized, a pained look covering her face.

Harry, accompanied by two guards, hurried upstairs and aimed his pistol at us.

"Drop the guns. Seriously."

We threw our guns to the ground. I shot Harry a nasty look. He noticed, glaring back at me.

"Not much you can do, girlie. You'll be fine if you do as you're told," Harry smirked. "Get her out of here, she's hurt. Take her to the train," he ordered, motioning to Chloe. The guards led her out of the room. She looked up at us, frowning as she disappeared from sight.

Moments as she left, I heard heavy footsteps trudging up the stairs. A bald man with a burn mark coating the right side of his face appeared up the stairs.

It was Lazarević.

"So… this little man is Drake, hm?" he said in a thick Serbian accent as he approached Nate. "Did you carry him all the way from the temple?" he said, motioning to Jeff. "Shame." He pulled his pistol from the mount on his chest, executing Jeff with a bullet through the forehead.

"No -!" shouted Elena, who started kneeling down to Jeff.

"Ah-ah, back on your feet, girl," Lazarević commanded. Elena froze, then stood back up, turning around to face the towering man. "Now, tell me what you found in the temple," he boldly ordered Nate.

"The answer that you're looking for, okay? I know where the Stone is, but you're not gonna find it without me, so just… just let her go, and I will lead you right to it." Nate pleaded.

Shouting at the top of my lungs, I jumped on Lazarević's back, trying to choke him. He reached around and grabbed my hair, slamming me to the ground. He lifted me by my neck, throwing me against the bookcase lining the wall, causing me to slam my head into the splintered wooden floor as I fell to the ground. I felt the breath left my lungs. "You are lucky you are a child." Lazarević growled at me as I gasped for breath and warm liquid dripped from my forehead. I placed my hand on the source, revealing a thick stream of blood as I removed it. He turned back to Nate and Elena.

Lazarević noticed the press ID on Elena's belt, lifting it with the edge of his pistol.

"Ah. My shadow. You are the reporter who's been biting as my heels. You better pray that he is not bluffing. Search him."

Harry walked over to Nate and checked his pockets. Taking a map from Nate's pouch, he unfolded it and poked the X on the map.

"This is brilliant, mate. Here you are, Zoran," Harry chuckled as he handed Lazarević the map.

Lazarević laughed menacingly. "It appears you have nothing to bargain with, Mr. Drake. Return to the staging ground. Prepare to move out," he ordered. "You, take care of them," he barked at Harry as he shoved Elena to the ground. Lazarević left the room, one of the soldiers following him.

"How can you work for that monster?" Elena asked Harry.

"Beats working against him, love," he responded.

"So that's it, huh?" questioned Nate as he walked up to a guard in the room. "You're just gonna mow us down in cold blood?"

"Looks that way, doesn't it?" said Harry, aiming his gun at Elena. "Get up."

Elena stayed on her knees, silent as her head hung towards the ground.

"I said, get up!" Harry grabbed Elena's arm. She jumped up, slamming her fist into Harry's face.

"Run!" shouted Elena as she jumped from the side of the building.

Nate punched the guard in the face and followed her, grabbing my wrist as he ran, pulling me along.

"You son-of-a-bitch!" Harry shouted as he fired at us while we plummeted to the street. When I landed, I felt a sharp pain in my foot and heard a slight snap. Nate held me up to keep me from falling down. I ignored the pain and sprinted with Nate and Elena. A torrent of bullets shot passed us, rockets exploding just behind our tracks. Continuing through the alley, we vaulted across a gap that had formed in the cobblestone, slamming against the wood planks of a collapsed building. We climbed up and continued running, not stopping until we could no longer hear the echoing sound of gunfire. We entered a small building and slumped against the wall.

"You guys alright?" asked Nate.

"Yeah, never better. You?" said Elena.

"Nothing that won't heal. How are you feeling, Lily? That cut's bleeding pretty bad."

"My head doesn't feel too bad, but my foot… I can't really feel it much." I reached down and rolled up my pant leg. The skin near my foot was tinted purple. I unlaced my shoe and slid it off, revealing the swollen purple foot underneath. "Yep, thought so. My foot's broken."

Elena gasped. "We've gotta get that swelling down. Here, let's hope there's still ice in that freezer." She walked over to the fridge sitting against the adjacent wall. Opening the freezer, she discovered a half-melted bag of ice.

"We're in luck!" she said as she grabbed the bag and hurriedly placed it on my throbbing foot. "This should help with the swelling, but we'll need to take care of that bone as soon as possible."

We sat there for about a half hour, finally getting our bearings after fighting so hard. My foot returned to its normal size, although the pain refused to subside. I got my shoe back on and stood up. A searing pain shot up my leg when I put pressure on it, but I figured I could at least use it in a pinch. Best to use this foot as little as possible.

We continued through the city, avoiding squads of guards on our way. We arrived on a rooftop overlooking a trainyard and knelt down behind the edge of the front wall, tiled with tall windows.

"I never should've gotten you into this mess." Nate said as he walked over to a window, peeking out.

"You didn't. I got here on my own," Elena said.

"Nah, I mean, you know, the rest of it."

"We knew what the stakes were."

Elena walked over to Nate, who was studying the extra map he pulled from his pocket.

"Okay, so, what do we do now?" Elena asked.

"I'm going after her."

"Of course you are… typical. Go after her," Elena retorted, a hint of anger in her voice. "She was about to pull the trigger, Nate. They just beat her to it."

"It's complicated -"

My exhaustion caught up to me as I watched them bicker, triggering my anger.

"Nate, how complicated can this be?"

"Lily, you're too young to understand, now stay out of this," Nate insisted as he turned back to Elena and the map.

"I'm not a kid anymore, I can handle it," I huffed.

"I know you're not-" he began.

"Then why have you been treating me like one this whole time?!"

"I was just trying to protect you."

"Then teach me how to protect myself! Chloe, of all people, was the one teaching me things."

"I have more experience than you!"

"How am I supposed to get experienced if you hold me back the entire time?"

"I only want what's best for you Lily, I don't want you to get hurt. "

"You're not even my real dad, so stop acting like it!" I shouted.

Nate stood there stunned while a look of concern masked Elena's face. Tears welling in my eyes, I ran off the building towards the train, hiding from soldiers as I went. I tucked into the caboose and hid in a box, silently weeping. The train lurched as it started moving. I drifted away from the first person to ever care from me, and now I wasn't sure I'd ever see him again.


	7. Trainwreck

I had heard gunshots and explosions as we left. Looking back, I saw a train car laying upside down with Nate shooting from the shattered windows. Several snipers were honing in on his position, and a couple heavy armor soldiers had also appeared. I felt an urge to go back and help, but getting the Phurba back was the top priority. I wasn't too worried, as Nate has gotten himself out of jams like this several times before.

Wiping the tears from my face, I peeked from my box to survey my surroundings. The train had reached a lush bamboo forest and was crossing several small bridges. The car I was in was clear of soldiers, but I could see several of them occupying the ones further up the train through the empty doorways. I carefully exited the box and started my way toward the front. I made my way through five cars before reaching any sort of danger. Three soldiers were standing just a few feet in front of me, with the only thing separating us being stacks of ammo boxes. On top of them laid a shining combat knife with its sheath. Stealthily grabbing both, I attached the sheath to my belt and docked the knife inside, preparing to fight.

Two guards were standing at the end of the left of the car having a conversation. The third was near me on the right with his back to the window. Needing to keep my presence secret, I made my way to the outside of the car and climbed to the top. There I found a yellow, rusted bar lining the car's edge. Grabbing it, I began shuffling my way across until I reached the window where the guard stood. Lowering myself down, I wrapped my legs around his neck and began strangling him as I pulled him from the car. He let out a slight yelp, but the other soldiers could not hear it over the clacking of the train's wheels.

Once I had him pulled most of the way out, I released my grip, dropping him to the ground. I looked back and watched his limp body roll along the ground. Climbing to the top of the train, I made my way to its front and dropped down to the outside platform. I unsheathed my knife and crept inside behind the other guards. I leapt on the back of the one facing away from me and slit his throat. Dropping down, I shoved the body toward the final soldier, who stumbled while trying to catch it. I dove at him with my knife raised above my head. His arms trapped under the body, he had no way of defending himself; my knife fell into his throat, causing a torrent of warm, crimson blood to spray out. It started to leak from his mouth; he gurgled for a moment, then went limp.

I climbed back into the train and continued forward. The next few cars were free of any obstacles until I got to a cylindrical fuel car, which had bars on the side similar to the others. Hoisting myself up the ladder bolted to the right side, I grabbed the bar and started slowly shuffling my way across. We had continued further up the mountain and snow was now falling. The wind blew my hair back and stung my eyes, coating me in a thin layer of moisture. Reaching the end of the barrel, I wrapped my arm around the corner and took hold of the ladder. Climbing down, it was a relief to feel my feet on somewhat solid ground again. The temperature obviously wasn't about to rise any time soon, so I rolled down the sleeves of my undershirt, which I normally keep rolled up in temperate climates. Blowing into my cupped hands, I forged ahead on my journey. I heard voices from a couple cars ahead behind small closed doors. Beside me was an empty wooden box with its lid resting on its side. I climbed inside and rested the lid above me. Not a moment afterward I heard footsteps marching passed; there must have been at least thirty men in this squadron. Waiting for them to fade into the distance, I carefully left my shelter and started onward once more.

Beyond the car was a flatbed with several logs strapped to it. I clambered up the splintery trees until I reached the top. Behind me, I heard the echoing noise of a firefight. I looked back and saw the soldiers fighting a lone man: Nate. I rushed forward, determined to prove myself to him. Under me was a soldier staring out at the ravine we were traveling beside. I jumped to the platform below, pushing the soldier from his perch into the abyss below.

The rest of the train was free from any resistance; I figured everyone had been sent to deal with Nate. Without notice, a helicopter akin to the ones we encountered in the city rushed by. These things were really starting to get agitating… I hoped Nate was alright.

I could finally see the front of the train a few cars ahead of me. Within were Chloe, Harry, and a muscle-bound soldier, obviously a commander of some sort. I recognized him as the one in the village from earlier, as he had the Phurba strapped to his hip. He was standing directly in front of the window, conversing with Harry. Repeating what I did before, I climbed the outside of their car until I got to the guard's window. I lowered myself down and wrapped my legs around his neck, squeezing as hard as I could. He pried at my legs to release himself, but I refused to let go. Suddenly, a huge explosion rocked the car. I looked back and saw the rear half of the train fly into the air with flaming bits of helicopter raining down.

The soldier, seeing an opening, grabbed my legs and bent into the car, pulling me inside. On my way in I slammed my chin against the top of the window, clanking my teeth together. Landing on my back, I felt something moving around the inside of my mouth. I rolled over onto my knees and spat it out; it was my right incisor. I looked up at the three surrounding me. Chloe had a worried look on her face, while Harry and the soldier had a mix of anger and malicious excitement. Feeling a rush of adrenaline flow through me, I dashed from the car, obviously outmatched. A few cars down I saw Nate running in my direction. I ran as fast as I could toward him. Upon us reaching each other, I dove at Nate, hugging him as hard as I could. He didn't hug me back. He looked down at me with a look of stern, quiet fury.

"Why did you get on the train, Lillian? You're in well over your head here. Did you expect to be able to fight this entire army by yourself?"

"Nate, I… I just wanted to prove myself. Chloe needed rescuing, so I decided to do it."

He grabbed my arms and put them by my side.

"I'm not here for you, I'm here for Chloe. You need to learn to accept others' help, otherwise you'll get into situations like this. Now move, I'm going to get her back."

He gently pushed me aside and briskly walked passed. He hopped to the next car and ran toward the commander to start fighting. Despite every punch he landed, none of them seemed to do any damage. Nate was lifted into the air and slammed to the ground, knocking the wind out of him. The soldier had his hand on Nate's throat, choking him. Tears welled up in my eyes and a stinging emotion arose from the pit of my gut. Looking up, I glared at the guard. I shouted at the top of my lungs and dashed toward them, tackling our enemy to the floor. Nate pulled me up, but didn't push me away. I raised my fists, ready for the fight.

"Are you serious, Draza? You got knocked down by a little girl?! Finish this already!" shouted out Harry. Chloe still stayed silent. He grabbed her arm and led her further toward the front of the train.

Draza slowly stood, his face scrunched up with rage.

"Yes, sir," he said in a thick Serbian accent.

He jabbed his left fist at Nate, who dodged to the right, taking the opportunity to punch him in the underarm. I dashed behind him and punched him in the back of the head. He swung his right arm around at me. I ducked, closely dodging it. Nate clocked him in the face as he stumbled, and I used my lowered stance to rocket myself into an uppercut. Draza stumbled backwards, blood dripping from his mouth, his face still covered with anger. He dashed at us, both arms extended sideways as he tried to clothesline us. Nate and I both ducked under. I kicked the back of his knee, forcing him to the ground. Once again, Nate walloped him in the jaw. I used the momentum of his head snapping sideways to smash the other side of his face. Nate grabbed his head and slammed his knee into his nose. He fell backwards, out cold.

Nate and I looked at each other, unsure of what to say. Moments passed, the silence unbroken.

Finally Nate said something.

"Um… thanks for that. Not sure what I was gonna do if you hadn't gotten him off me."

"No problem," I quietly replied.

After Nate grabbed the Phurba, we started walking to the front of the train. Several more reserved moments passed, interrupted only by the clacking of the train.

"By the way, where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"Well, I… learned from watching the best."

Nate gave a small, pained smirk.

We didn't say a word for the rest of the trip.

We finally reached the train's second-to-front car. Chloe was standing there alone. I assumed Harry was in the lead car, as it had its doors closed. Littered around the car were barrels of gasoline.

"Chloe, I finally found you! Let's get going," Nate said in a hushed shout. Suddenly, he was tackled from behind, knocking me over.

"I've had _enough_ of you Drake!" shouted Draza as he pinned Nate to the wall by his throat. Getting hit to the ground knocked the air out of me, making me powerless to help.

Chloe hesitantly aimed her gun at the soldier, pursing her lips as she thought of what she should do.

"Chloe, do it!" I yelled breathlessly.

Glancing at me, she looked back, made a stern expression, and pulled the trigger. Draza stood there, frozen. After what felt like minutes, he finally fell, his body making a thump as it hit the train car's floor.

"Saved my ass again. Are you alright?" Nate asked Chloe as he rubbed his throat.

"Get off the train, Nate. You too, Lily," she said, pointing her gun at him.

"What are you talking about? Do you have any idea what we've been through -"

"I didn't ask for any of your bloody heroics."

She turned and started walking away.

"Chloe, come on - we don't have time for this, we need to go," I begged.

"You're right, so get off the train while you still can. Both of you."

"And leave you with them?" Nate asked.

"You made your choice."

"What did you expect me to do?"

"I expected you to have my back-"

"I had your back!"

"How could you possibly, with everyone else on yours?!"

"... you know, I hope you're happy with Flynn. You deserve each other."

Nate turned and started walking away.

"Come on, Lily. Let's go."

I heard a gunshot. As if in slow motion, Nate stumbled to the floor, clutching his gut as blood spilled out. I looked back and saw Harry, smirking as he held his gun pointed at Nate. He stepped forward, keeping his weapon trained on us.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you? What, no witty remark? Nothing clever to say?"

I knelt down and wrapped my arm around Nate.

"Harry, don't!" Chloe called out.

Harry fired at Nate again, but Chloe pushed his arm away.

I pulled Nate's arm over me, hoisting him up and dragging him back through the train.

"Stop, just let him go!" shouted Chloe.

Harry grabbed her, pushing her to the floor. Two soldiers ran into the train car where Nate and I were.

"Put him out of his misery!" demanded Harry.

Nate collapsed to the ground. I grabbed the pistol from his holster and shot the soldiers down. This gave him time to climb into a train seat.

My breathing became irregular and my heart felt as if it were about to burst from my chest. My shirt had become soaked in his blood.

I knelt down next to him.

"I'm here Nate. Stay with me," I encouraged.

"Lily…" he huffed.

"Run… please..." he insisted. Nate winced with every breath.

"... we need to stop this bleeding," I said as I pressed against the wound. I felt warm tears stream down my face.

"You won't make it with both of us Lil. Get off this train while you can," he pleaded as he squeezed my hand.

"I'm not leaving you here to die Nate!"

"You're not… I'll catch up to you,"

"Nate…" I sighed.

"Lily, please stop arguing with me and go!"

"... I won't forgive you if you don't make it back." He gave me a wink and a smirk, reassuring me he had a plan. I ran off toward the back of the train. As I went, I heard Nate say "Here goes nothin'..."


	8. Something More

I had only made it a few cars away from Nate as I felt an explosion rock the mountainside. I looked back, seeing a fireball enveloping the front of the train. The car I was in bumped off the track, sending me flying. I slammed my head into the ceiling, knocking me into a daze. It felt like I floated in midair for a moment before slamming back down to Earth, causing me to slam my head into the sharp side of a dilapidated seat. A rush of searing pain filled my head as I felt blood pouring from my face. The car started to roll sideways, crashing down the hill near the mountaintop. I was flown about inside, bouncing off of every surface within the car. With a final crash, I was flung out the window, into the frigid snowbank outside. Landing on my back, I watched the car fly over me and off the side of the cliff a few feet away. As I laid there, I looked further up the tracks and saw the rest of the train being pulled down the mountainside, save for the locomotive. I tried to stand, but my head started pounding, causing the world around me to blur and distort. I collapsed back to the ground, feeling the life draining from me. I felt my eyes close as the rest of the world faded from my consciousness.

"Nate, watch out!" I shouted as my body shot upright. I pressed my hand against my forehead as it began to throb, noticing a homemade cast tightly wrapped around my middle fingers. I rested backward on my palm as it sunk into a soft mattress. A knitted tribal blanket was draped over my legs. I tried to recall the events that brought me here but drew a blank.

My cot was placed in a small square room that was furnished with ornate wooden dressers topped with candles, creating a cozy atmosphere. Beautiful Tibetan artifacts decorated the walls. Beside me was a small table occupied by medicine bowls and herbs.

A creaking door announced Elena's arrival. In her arms was a pile of white cloth along with a few medical supplies.

"Hey, look who's finally awake," she exclaimed as we embraced.

"Elena… where am I?" I questioned.

The room spun as I sat on the edge of the bed. Elena claimed a seat next to me, rubbing my back to ease the dizziness.

"A village hidden in the Himalayas. We found you unconscious among the train wreckage and I carried you back," she explained.

"How long have I been out?"

"Almost a week. What happened to you on that train, Lil?"

Blurry images of that day flashed before me as I recited everything I remembered.

"I'm glad you're okay, Lily. I was so worried when Tenzin arrived without you,"

"Tenzin?" I questioned.

"A villager who found Nate among the train wreckage," she explained.

"I'm sorry Elena… I wanted to prove that I'm more than what Nate saw me as," I sighed.

"He can be a hardhead sometimes, Lil, but he does those things because he cares about you."

"I know. I wish I realized that sooner… where is he?" I sighed.

"Just in the other room."

"Can I see him? I need to talk to him."

"Sure. Can you stand?"

She slowly lifted my arm as I struggled to stand. The room continued to spin as I reached for Elena's shoulder for support. We made our way to the next room. I tripped over my feet as I tried to regain my balance. I found Nate sitting on an old chair, hunched over faded parchment, scouring them for information. His head shot up once we entered.

"Lily!" he cried as he ran to me with open arms.

"Oh Nate! I'm so glad you're okay!"

Nate's warm hug relieved me of my pain. I sensed Elena's smile as her hand rested on my back.

"Elena, if it's okay with you, I'm going to take Lily for a walk," he winked.

"Sure thing, Nate. Don't forget, Schaffer wants to talk with you once you're done,"  
Elena reminded.

"Alright, we'll head over then," Nate assured as he pinched her cheek. I couldn't help but smile at the small gesture.

Elena hurried to a small couch and handed me a beautiful tribal jacket. The design was knitted with thick colorful stripes, which stretched diagonally across. Little tassels trimmed the bottom. I beamed as I donned the jacket.

"I saw this in the marketplace and thought of you," admitted Elena.

"It's gorgeous, Elena! Thank you!" I exclaimed. The soft wool engulfed me in warmth as I showcased it to my partners.

"It looks great on you Lil," Nate complimented.

Elena approached me and flattened out the wrinkled shoulders, patting them once they'd been flattened out.

"It's a little chilly out there. Stay warm," she advised. Alarmed by the sudden kindness, I responded with a simple grin. Nate walked over to the door and opened it, allowing a flow of chilly mountain air to fill the room.

"C'mon Lil, let's go," he said as he motioned for me to follow

The still, frigid air stung my cheeks as we toured the village. The cliff sides were dotted with small wooden homes with colorful streamers strung between. The streets were filled with the inhabitants fulfilling their daily duties. As we walked, we sometimes would stop and play with the children, who were playing catch or football. Along the way, Nate informed me of our long week in the village. Elena had been feverishly taking care of us the entire time, sometimes staying up all night, making sure we were well-kept. This revelation made me feel a slight twinge of guilt, as I felt neither of us would have gotten hurt had I not run off. Following the dirt path, we arrived at a bench overlooking a breathtaking view of the mountain tops. For the first time in months, I somewhat felt at peace. No sooner than we arrived, I was abrupted by memories of our argument, causing my heart to grow heavy. How could Nate forgive me after those horrible things I've said? I sat on the bench, stewing over how I would apologize.

A few moments passed.

"Nate, I'm sorry for what I said the other day… my anger got the better of me. You had good intentions but my stubborness saw it differently," I explained.

"I'm sorry, too Lil. I was way too harsh on you, and I had a lot on my mind…" he said, turning his head away as if he were ashamed of his expression.

"Nate…" I sighed, wanting to add more, but the words evaded me. We sat in silence for a while before Nate spoke again. His hands began to shake as he took a deep breath.

"Lily, I want nothing but the best for you. The experience you've given me as a guardian made me a better person… if you let me, I'd like to be something more."

"Nate ...where are you going with this?" I inquired, fighting back the lump in my throat.

"Before we left, I completed your adoption papers… they'll be waiting for us when we get back to the States," Nate explained.

"You want to be my father?" I gasped.

"I want us to be a family," Nate smiled.

"Nate…" I weakly respired as I held back tears.

"I meant to surprise you when we got back, but after what happened, I thought now would be a good time to tell you."

I stared out into the mountains, too stunned to speak. After losing my parents, I never contemplated on belonging to another family, but living with Nate, Elena, and Sully revised the idea. They've given me a place to call home. I smiled, knowing I finally had a family to call my own.

Warm tears rolled down my face. "Thank you…" I sobbed as we embraced. The hug lasted several minutes as we sat there enjoying the moment that changed our lives forever.

"We better meet up with Schaffer before Elena comes for us," joked Nate.

"Who's Schaffer?" I asked as we hopped off the bench.

"He's a German professor who's been here since the tail end of World War II. He wanted to speak with me earlier but I was too occupied with you. I agreed to see him once you awoke," he explained.

"Wonder what he wants?" I pondered.

"It'll probably be something about the Cintamani Stone. I just hope he doesn't lecture us about it." Nate suggested.

"I hope not. I'm in no mood for a lecture," I laughed. While exploring the village, certain people came to mind.

"Do Elena and Sully know of my adoption?"

"Elena does. We discussed it while waiting for you,"

"She's okay with this?"

"Of course," he assured. "She's ecstatic about it."

I smiled.

"We'll have to tell Sully once we get back," I joked.

"I dare you to call him grandpa."

"I'll do that first thing when I see him," I laughed deviously.

We climbed a small hill which brought us to a two story clay house composed topped with wood and straw. Elena greeted us when Nate wrapped on the door.

"Everything alright?" she asked with a smile, allowing us inside.

"Perfect!" I nodded, grinning.

"Great! Schaffer's waiting for you in the back," she instructed. Elena guided us to a large room which was decorated with gorgeous furniture. I felt the warmth of a gently blazing fire as we passed a stone fireplace. An old man with his head buried in a book occupied the room, who welcomed us the moment we arrived. He was a little older than Sully, his gray hair thinning and his old face drooping. He was draped in a traditional Tibetan robe.

"You must be Miss…"

"Lillian," I introduced with a firm handshake.

"Lillian," he repeated in a gravely German accent. "What a lovely name. Please have a seat," he offered. The three of us claimed seats at a small, splintery wood table in front of the fireplace.

"My name is Karl Schaffer. It seems you and I have a lot in common Mr. Drake," Schaffer began. Heading to a bookshelf to receive a beaten scrapbook.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, seventy years ago, I came here just like you… carried into the village, near death, the last survivor of my group," Schaffer explained as he placed the scrapbook on the table.

"I was hired to lead an expedition into Tibet, to find the entrance to Shambhala," he continued, spreading out the pages to reveal black and white photos of a young Schaffer, accompanied by photos of his expedition partners and gorgeous pictures of the mountains. While studying the photos, I noticed Schaffer sporting a leather jacket similar to what Nate was wearing.

"What they really wanted was the Cintamani Stone. So, my friend… where did you find this?" questioned Schaffer as he reached for a long object wrapped in cloth. My eyes widened when the Phurba was exposed, surprised we still had the dagger after the train wreck.

"In Borneo. Why?" Nate shrugged.

"This is the key to Shambhala. It's the one object your opponent desperately needs, even if he does  
not know it yet."

"Oh, I think he knows. Look, I'm very grateful for everything you've done for me. I really am, but I'm through with all this," protested Nate. My head snapped back at him and my eyes narrowed.

"So they have beaten you, eh? Your quest is over?" grinned Schaffer.

"Yeah, that's right."

"What if I told you this was only the beginning?"

"Where did you find this guy?" Nate chuckled towards Elena.

"Trust me, young man... your ego will mend. You're just lucky to be alive,"

"Y'know, people are always telling me how lucky I am, but the truth is, everything I touch turns to shit," Nate barked. "I'm done…"

"You're not serious?" I enquired. "After everything we've been through, you're giving up?"

"I almost lost you while searching for a fairy tale, Lil!"

"Yeah, almost!" I huffed.

Schaffer chimed in. "Your adversary will not give up so easily. He will not stop until he possesses the thing he desires. Some of the most fearsome rulers through history have possessed only a fragment of the Cintamani Stone. Men like Tamerlane, Genghis Khan… if a mere sliver could bestow such power, what would a man become if he possessed the Stone itself?"

"Exactly! We can't give up now!" I agreed.

"Lily, I'd appreciate it if you'd stop going against me… Lazarević is a nut job! He's chasing a myth!"

"What if he's not?"

"Lily…" Nate sighed angrily.

"Before I met you, I never believed in the supernatural, but you showed me anything is possible. This shouldn't be any different. We fought freaking zombies for goodness sake!"

Nate dared not to meet my gaze.

"There's someone telling us we're close to discovering Shambhala and you're going to quit?! What's that teaching me?" I rebuked.

"I understand your doubt. You require proof, something you can see with your own eyes," Schaffer noted.

Suddenly, a young tribal man entered the room. His raven hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Both ears were studded with teal- and salmon-colored gems matching those on Nate's jacket, and his goatee was pulled together with beads of a similar color. He wore a dark brown traveler's jacket and a large-brimmed hat which featured an orange rope going around its base. His dark skin was illuminated by the fire light. Schaffer turned to our new guest and spoke Tibetan.

"Tenzin will guide you. Find the remains of my expedition, and you will have your proof," Schaffer suggested.

"I hope I live to regret this…" Nate sighed.

"Just come back in one piece, and look out for each other," Elena advised with a tired smile.

"We will, Elena," I promised. Before we departed, Nate kissed Elena's cheek. I beamed as I watched them gaze into each other's eyes, smiling at Nate as we gathered hiking supplies.

"What?" he shrugged.

"Nothing," I chuckled.


	9. The Icy Descent

The world seemed different as the two of us ventured into the wilderness, trudging through thick snow as Tenzin lead us deeper into the mountains. As I tried to process everything that had occurred, there were moments I caught Nate smiling at me, having me wonder what was on his mind.

During our treacherous climb between mountain peaks, I realized I'd have to start referring Nate as my dad. The word used to feel like a burden, but now it has an entirely new meaning. I never really had a positive father figure in my life, and Nate was the first adult who took on this role. A lone tear fell not out of sadness, but relief. I was thankful for fate allowing us to start over as a real family.

Tenzin lead us to the large mouth of an ice cave carved into the mountainside. Before us stood a stone carving with a warning written in Tibetan. Not understanding a word Tenzin spoke, he told us of the sign and encouraged us to follow him.

"Why do we need a warning? That can't be good," asked Nate with worry.

"Maybe the cave's haunted?" I shrugged.

"I've encountered ghosts before. They aren't beings that necessarily need a warning."

"I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle," I assured, patting his back. I shadowed Tenzin into the cave. Ice towered over us, crafted into gleaming natural sculptures. Along the way, Nate and I would gaze up in awe at nature's landscape.

I was always fond of cave exploring with Nate. Our best memories occurred while traversing deep caverns during our odd jobs. While stomping through the snow, a loud howl echoed, causing Nate to stop and reach for my arm. I followed his gaze to find a lone wolf observing us from a high perch.

"Great, now we have to deal with wolves?!"

"If we don't bother them, they won't bother us," I instructed.

"I don't think that rule applies to them, Lil."

"I've encountered plenty of wolves during my travels. Trust me, they apply."

Carefully eying the wolf, I reminisced of my days of trekking through forests and encountering dangerous animals, reminding me of a pack I had been able to interact peacefully with. I crossed paths with a pack who had been finishing up a meal. My blood boiled as a small rush of adrenaline kicked in. My body tensed when their heads rose and our eyes met. I let out a sigh of relief when they realized I wasn't a threat and allowed me to pass.

Nate's grip tightened as we anticipated the wolf's decision. After a moment of intense silence, it disappeared behind a block of ice.

"See? No harm, no foul," I sighed.

"I'll never underestimate your survival skills again," Nate promised.

"You know, I considered living with wolves once," I admitted as we continued.

"Really? What changed your mind?" inquested Nate.

"I thought I'd be too intimidating for the Alpha. I'd probably become the new leader within a week," I bragged.

"Lily Drake, the fearless leader," Nate joked and our laughter bounced off the glistening ice. I smiled at the mention of my new name.

Tenzin led us over large cliffs and gaps with Nate and I working together once again. The cave seemed to go on for miles as we conquered its obstacles.

"What do we have here?" Nate said as he investigated a rotting corpse. I lifted my nose, disgusted by the grotesque sight. Despite encountering zombies and raiding numerous tombs, I still wasn't used to gross stuff like this.

"Do you think it's one of Schäfer's men?" I pondered, making sure to keep my distance.

"No doubt about it, look at his skull. This guy wasn't having a good day," said Nate. I peeked over his shoulders to find the right side of the skull bashed in as if someone slammed him with a sledgehammer.

"Wonder what did this to him?" asked Nate while rubbing his chin, deep in thought.

"It definitely wasn't the wolves," I concluded. "Maybe it's whatever the sign outside the cave warned us about?"

"Whatever it is, we need to be careful."

Tenzin spoke again to be included in our conversation. Elena taught me a couple Tibetan phrases a few months back, but my limited knowledge didn't help me decipher what he was trying to say.

"Sorry buddy, we don't understand," Nate shrugged apologetically. Before moving on to the next chamber, Nate spotted a lone pistol next to another corpse.

"You still have that knife I gave you?" asked Nate as he checked for clips. He had given it to me while we packed for our trip into the caverns. I turned to my belt, finding it secured on my hip.

"You bet," I nodded, patting my side.

"If you find yourself in trouble, you know to do."

"Of course," I grinned.

"That's my girl," he smiled, ruffling my hair. We followed Tenzin into a large opening that was blanketed by a sheet of ice, with walls of icicles enclosing the space. In the distance, a deep growl followed the yelping of a wolf caused us to stop.

"Nate… what was that?" my voice shook as I reached for his hand.

"I don't know… but don't wander far," requested Nate in a protective tone.

"Right back at you," I agreed. After rounding a few corners, the fresh stench of decaying meat barged through my nostrils. My eyes widened with fear as we approached wolf carcasses. Glistening blood trickled from a large bite wounds, pooling around the bodies.

"Aw, poor things," I sympathized.

Tenzin spoke again, this time trying charades. Nate leaned in close as we watched.

"What's he saying, Lil?"

I focused as he waved his arms about.

"I think he's saying there's something big and scary here," I loosely translated.

"Yeah, no kidding. We'd better get going."

Tenzin tried to speak but Nate cut him short.

"Tenzin, we have to go," he urged.

My heart rate increased as I sharpened my focus on my surroundings, trying to ignore the feeling of being watched as we ventured forward. My jacket was starting to allow the biting chill of the cave's thin air to reach my skin as a shiver ran down my spine. I never left Nate's side while weaving in and out of tight spaces. We were crossing a large circular area which was surrounded by thick sheets of ice when I heard the same growl nearby.

"Nate… did you hear that?" I called to him as I froze with terror. Before Nate could respond, a large creature lunged at me. Its humongous body thrashed me into the cold ground. The creature's paws slammed onto my shoulder, forcing me to stare at my attacker. A foul stench surrounded me as it roared, revealing razor sharp fangs covering the canyon of its mouth. Its body was covered in long, matted indigo fur. Horns protruded from its head in a similar fashion to a goat. Its face had protruding bones as if it were wearing a mask. The eyes glowed with a light identical to that of the resin we had stumbled upon several times prior to arriving here.

It crouched above me, roaring a mere few inches from my face, causing flecks of food and saliva to cover me. As it stood to slam its massive fists down on me, I grabbed my knife from its holster and leapt to my feet, tackling the blade into its torso. Blue blood spurted out, staining my coat. It grabbed me and tossed me across the cavern. The air left my lungs as I slammed into the ground, leaving me gasping for breath.

Nate unholstered his pistol and started firing at the beast, the aged pin of the weapon clinging against the inside of the barrel. As the bullets pierced the creature, more blue blood sprayed everywhere, but it did not flinch. As its thunderous roar echoed throughout the cave, I felt the sound vibrate my entire being.

It leapt at Nate, splaying its claws in preparation for a slash. He rolled out of the way, continuing to rail the monster with bullets. As he stood up, his gun made the clink of an empty clip.

"Oh, crap," he said as a look of worry covered his face.

Tenzin withdrew his kukri and shouted as he sprinted toward the creature. He jumped on its back and started stabbing it into its back. Nate and I also charged it, our knives held high above our heads. We sunk our blades deep into its torso, causing a torrent of blood to come spilling out. It roared and spun around, knocking us all away into the cave walls, shaking the entire arena. This caused a large icicle stalactite to come plummeting down upon the monster, knocking it to the ground. It laid there for a moment before stumbling back to its feet and leaping back into the confines of the cave.

I leaned up and sat there, dazedly surveying my surroundings. Tenzin, who slowly got to his feet, made his way over to me and helped me up. He uttered something in Tibetan along the lines of "Are you okay?" I looked up and nodded. I glanced over at Nate, who was still laid out on the ground.

"Dad!" I shouted as I sprinted to him, tripping over myself a few times, as I was still shaken from hitting the wall. Upon arrival, I could barely tell if he was breathing. I knelt down and listened for air moving through his nose. I heard the small whistle of breath entering and exiting, although it was quite faint. He was bleeding quite profusely from his forehead, and his eyes were glued shut. Tenzin knelt on the other side of Nate and grabbed something from his satchel - it was a small glass jar of smelling salts and some herbs, sealed by a simple cork. He opened the container and held it up to Nate's face. He held it there for a few minutes. Suddenly, Nate's whole body twitched. His eyes shot open and he quickly sat up.

"Aaahh! Wh-what's going on? Where'd it go?" he said confusedly.

"Dad, you're okay!" I cheered as I wrapped him in a hug.

"Lil… what happened?"

"That thing knocked us all into the walls. I think it made some ice fall on it, which chased it away. I guess we got pretty lucky," I explained.

"Huh… yeah, I guess we did," he joked. "C'mon, we've gotta keep moving."

Tenzin said something that sounded like a worried warning as he gently placed his hands on Nate's arm.

"Don't worry buddy, I'll be fine," Nate muttered as he struggled to get to his feet. Tenzin helped him stand the rest of the way, carefully removing his hands to make sure Nate could stand on his own. We continued our way through the cave, eventually stumbling upon large stone stairs leading to a giant stone face hovering above an ancient wooden door. Shoving the doors open, we came across a massive room in which the walls were lined with ornate stone statues similar to the one we found in the city temple. Hanging from the ceiling on each side were three spinning metal cylinders. Ahead of us were two rows of stone columns rising from the icy waters below. On the other side was a golden door reaching to the ceiling with metal lever sat on either side of it.

We vaulted our way across the platforms and pulled the levers simultaneously, causing several loud clunks to be heard behind the doors. I looked up and saw stone gears turning. The door started grinding open, leaving carvings on the stone floor.

Beyond the door I saw a grand round room lined with tibetan statues, each holding a blue stone representing the Cintamani Stone. In the center of the room was the largest statue, also holding a stone. On either side of the sculpture were rows of small, curved stairs, each leading to a lever. In the middle of the second storey was a third lever, covered by rust and snow. Below the statue were several bodies dressed in winterized gear reminiscent of Nazi attire, mummified by the cold. I noticed one of them had a bullet hole in the side of its head; I felt a shock go down my spine and had to force myself to look away.

Nate walked up to them, analyzing every visible detail. He knelt down beside the one closest to the statue's stone, picking up a small container just outside its reach.

"Huh… more resin." He spotted the bullet hole in its head, which had a trail of dried blood leading down to its jaw. "Hello, would you look at this…?"

He stood up, examining the rest of the bodies.

"These men were all shot!"

Tenzin, speaking in Tibetan, picked up a tan-colored book that had been sprawled open next to another body. He gave it to Nate and pointed to the cover.

Nate took a moment to analyze it. "That, uh… that's the Irminsul, the Life Tree." He opened it and flipped through a few pages. "The Ahnenerbe…? Guys, they were SS."

Tenzin looked at Nate with a slightly confused expression.

"Ya know, Nazis."

"Nazis…" Tenzin echoed.

"Schäfer… killed them. It was the only way to stop them."

Suddenly, a growling noise emerged from near the ceiling. Our heads shot up to see two of the beasts descending upon us.

"Oh, crap - Lily, put this book in your backpack. Tenzin, the switch!" Nate shouted as he handed me the tattered book and pointed to the lever to the statue's left. As I stuffed the book into my backpack they scrambled up the stairs, wrangling each lever toward them. A wide, gear-shaped stone platform attached to several chains began descending from the ceiling.

The creatures bounded around the top area near the smaller statues, planning how they would pounce upon their prey.

"We've gotta keep them occupied until that thing gets down here! Give 'em everything you've got!" Nate shouted as he tossed a spare pistol to Tenzin and started firing at the monsters. Sparks flew from their masks where the bullets were ricocheting off. I pulled my gun out and joined the fray.

Despite causing streams of blood to spray out, the creatures were barely stunned by our attacks. They jumped down and started charging us. I rolled out of the way, barely missing being impaled by its massive horns as I felt its thunderous footsteps pound passed, ramming into the wall just a few feet behind me. It got itself stuck in the cracked stones, struggling to free itself from the wall. I looked up and realized the platform had reached the top of the stairs.

"Dad, our ride's here! Let's go!" I yelled as I sprinted up the stairs and leaped to the ancient elevator. Nate and Tenzin joined me, each causing it to sway when they jumped on. They continued to fire upon our foes, but we didn't start rising after the few seconds we stood there.

Nate looked down, frustrated. "Well?!"

"The switch!" I pointed out, motioning toward the middle lever.

"Oh, great…" Nate panted as he began moving toward it. Suddenly, I felt a giant claw latch onto my ankle. I looked down, spotting the beast that had rammed into the wall but was now freed.

"Dad!" I cried as it started pulling me down. I felt its nails start digging into my skin as my feet slid toward the edge, causing a searing pain to course through my leg.

"Lily!" Nate shouted as he dove toward me, his hand outstretched. I reached for it as I felt myself begin falling. Rather than catching him, my hand slammed into the edge of the stone surface, my fingers barely hold on.

"Hang on, I've got you!" he continued as he attempted to pull me up. Tenzin joined, grabbing my other arm as he fired at the living gargoyle, but it was no use.

"Dad, hit the switch! It's our only way!"

A look of concern crossed his face as he stared at me for a moment before he stood up and took aim at the lever. A single shot left his gun, causing it to slam backwards, the rust and snow blasting off of it. With a heavy shake we started rising. The shock caused the fiend to lose its grip, plummeting to the ground below. Several large cracks formed in the stone around where it fell, causing large chunks of the floor to fall into the abyss just under it, taking the monsters with it. I looked up and lent the boys my other hand as they hoisted me up to safety. I sat there, staring down into the maw that was nearly my grave, leaving out a heavy sigh. I pulled off my backpack and produced a roll of gauze from inside, tightly wrapping it around my wounded leg. I noticed some purple emerging from my shoe and a slight numbness returning to the foot; it must have gotten damaged again during the fight. I struggled to my feet, using Nate's shoulder for support.

"You okay?" Nate said worriedly.

"I'll be fine. After all, I'm a Drake, right?" I smirked with a wink as I tried to hide the pain.

"Sure, just don't push yourself. Even we have our limits," he joked.

We emerged from the cave at the top of the mountain next to the village. The snow had increased, almost immediately covering my face. I smelled the scent of smouldering wood. We ran to the edge of the peak to discover the village in flames.

"Oh no…" Nate said, shocked.

Tenzin shouted something and took off toward his home. We rushed after him, barely keeping up. The cold of the snow eased the pain in my foot, which continued to tighten in my shoe. Images of Elena trapped under burning rubble entered my mind. I prayed for them to be wrong. We continued down the mountainside, speeding toward the apocalyptic scene.


	10. Smoke and Fire

Arriving at the village entrance, we found the gateway arch in shambles on the ground. We vaulted over it and rushed toward Tenzin's home. I could hear gunfire and explosions echoing throughout the mountains, shaking the ground beneath us. The three of us armed ourselves with our pistols, ready to fight.

As we made our way through the town, I saw bodies of villagers and soldiers strewn about, many of whom were crushed under rubble, leaving small streams of blood flowing out, which gathered into small maroon puddles. I forced myself to ignore them, using the thought of rescuing Elena as my inspiration to move forward.

A squadron of soldiers emerged from a building to continue their onslaught. One pointed us out, causing the rest of them to take aim at us. We dove behind some bits of a destroyed building just before a barrage of bullets rained down upon us.

"Wait for them to reload!" shouted Nate, ready to return fire.

We crouched there as the soldiers' attack continued. Then, suddenly, silence.

"Now!" Nate commanded. The three of us stood up and opened fire on our foes, who fell to the ground like tissue paper as our shots tore through them.

"Let's go, we have to get to Elena!" Nate urged.

We fought our way through the village until finally arriving at Tenzin's house. Within we discovered Elena and Tenzin's daughter, Pema, safely huddled behind some furniture.

"Oh, thank God you're alright!" Nate exclaimed as he embraced Elena in a tight hug. Tenzin ran to his daughter and hoisted her into the air, his face beaming with joy. I felt relief at seeing everyone reunited, although viewing Tenzin and his young daughter brought up the unhappy memory of not having a father for all that time, but I reminded myself I have Nate now. Smiling at the joyous scene, I ran to Nate and Elena and wrapped my arms around them. Before I knew it, the hug ended, Elena's face fading to a more serious tone.

"Nate, they took Schäfer. What're we gonna do?"

"We're gonna get him back, obviously. C'mon, let's go. Coming, Tenzin?"

Tenzin glanced over, obviously not sure at what Nate said. Elena translated, to which Tenzin responded with a slight grin, patting Pema's head.

Turning back to Nate, Elena said "He'll be staying here to take care of Pema and will be barricading the house as soon as we leave. They'll be fine."

"Sure," Nate responded. "See ya later, buddy," he waved with a smile. Tenzin returned the wave, and we returned to the battlefield, ready to rescue Schäfer.

This section of the village had become quiet, as the fighting had moved further toward the other edge of town. We made our way up toward Schäfer's residence. After walking for a few minutes, I looked down and noticed tread marks in the ground which looked like they were left by a tank.

"Uh, hey Dad…?" I said, motioning to the marks underfoot.

"Why in the world would they bring a ta-?"

Nate's words were cut short by a sudden explosion that had burst from an adjacent brick wall. Soldiers came spilling from the rubble, immediately opening fire upon us.

"Tank?!" exclaimed Nate.

"Run!" shrieked Elena.

Nate grabbed my arm and pulled me into a sprint.

"We're not going to fight them?" I inquired.

"Are you kidding? There's at least twenty guys back there, and they have a freaking TANK!" Nate yelled over the gunfire.

We dodged the assault as much as possible, ducking through buildings and alleys. Despite our best attempts, the tank stuck to our path like glue, breaking through every wall we ran behind.

Continuing our escape, we finally arrived at the village square where the rest of the residents, who were fighting the soldiers with archaic wooden crossbows, which were surprisingly effective in taking down anything they hit, as the razor sharp arrows pierced through body armor like butter.

Nate pulled us over behind a small brick wall with a line of crossbows leaning on it.

"Here, take these," he said, handing us the weapons. "It can only fire once before needing reloaded, so be sure to make every shot count. I'm gonna try to find something that can deal with that tank."

Before I could get a word out, Nate kissed Elena and ran off into the mess of buildings.

Elena and I glanced at each other with a nod, then stood up to join the others in fighting the soldiers. We were able to hold our ground, with each shot striking its target with deadly precision.

Suddenly, I saw a shadow appear on the ground in front of us, emanating from the roof of the building behind us. I looked up and saw Nate standing proudly with an RPG.

"I'd say this oughta take care of that tank!" he called down. Not a moment later, the tank burst through the gates closing in the area, its machine gun mowing down several villagers.

"Get down!" I shouted, pushing Elena behind cover. I heard the rush of a rocket soar over my head, striking the tank and releasing shrapnel into the air. I peeked over our crumbling cover to see if the tank still worked. It sat smouldering, seemingly devoid of life. Shockingly, it sprang back into action, sparks shooting from its vents and its top grinded toward us. We ran from our cover just before it fired another round, destroying part of the building upon impact. As we sprinted to find more cover, I glanced back to see if Nate was okay. Having been knocked down by the blast, he scrambled back to his feet, attempting to reload the RPG as quickly as possible.

Not noticing Nate was still alive, the tank continued chasing after us. We rushed into a building, narrowly missing being struck by another tank round which soared into the mountains, striking a faraway building and knocking it off its support beams. Nate jumped across rooftops, rushing to our aid. He slid down the window cover, landing just behind us. Suddenly, a soldier appeared from a building wielding a combat knife similar to my own.

"Nate, watch out!" Elena shouted as she ran toward Nate. She tackled him out of the way as the soldier dove at him, ready to strike. As they landed, the RPG fired, flying passed the tank and striking the remainder of the gate arch behind it. It's barrel cranked toward the ground, ready to blast them away.

As Nate glanced back at me with a worried smirk, it quickly disappeared behind a building smashing down on them. I peered up the mountain and the horrific sight of the destruction it left behind; it had tumbled down here after having its supports smashed by the tank's shot.

"Dad! Elena!" I shouted as I sprinted toward the collapsed structure. Before I could get there, I looked up and saw the tank barreling over the pile of rubble, its machine gun barrel spinning up as it prepared to shred me to pieces. I froze.

Glancing down at where my family once laid was the grim sight of a hand sticking out from the rubble. The horror of not knowing who its owner is- or was- shocked me out of my fear. I rose to my feet and fled from the tank, its bullets trailing mere inches behind me. I ran as fast as my weary legs could carry me, despite the burning pain in my foot. I retreated into a building and ran up the steep stairs held within. On the second floor I found the body of a soldier with an arrow through his heart. I wearly knelt down next to him and looted his body of its grenades and pistol. I sat propped against the wall to catch my breath as I heard the machinery of the tank grinding toward me.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly exhaled, focusing on how I could take the tank down.

" _What would Dad do?"_ I asked myself. I glanced down at the grenades in the holster I had wrapped around my waist.

Looking out the window, I could see the tank hunting me, its barrel swiveling in every direction. Bearing myself for what was to come, I slowly stood, ready to return to the fight. I ran onto the balcony and dove onto the tank below. I opened the hatch leading to the inside of the tank and tossed a grenade in. Clambering away, I pivoted onto the tank's gun, and chucked a grenade into its mouth. I felt my hands singe as I hung onto it.

Needing to escape the oncoming explosion, I swung to the ground and dove behind the nearest cover. As I crouched behind the meager stone wall, a deafening explosion shot tank parts into the sky, covering the entirety of the square, the noise leaving my ears ringing.

The world went quiet.

I sat there, tears leaking from my eyes as I tried to think of what to do next. Schäfer is the only other English-speaking person I know in this place. Elena said they took him, but I thought they might just be holding him captive in his home. I stumbled through the rest of the town, climbing through collapsed structures and tripping over corpses.

Arriving at Schäfer's house, I pushed open the small wooden doors. The room was silent and cold, as the fire had long since died. I shuffled to the table and slumped into a chair. My whole body felt numb as I felt my world crumble around me. As my weariness overtook me, I closed my eyes and faded into the comforting arms of sleep.


	11. The Passing of the Torch

I awoke to a hand gently resting on my shoulder, rocking me back to life.

I heard a familiar, comforting voice.

"Lil… wake up, Lil…"

I slowly opened my eyes and tilted my head up. It was Nate. His clothes were tattered and there was a thick line of dried blood going down the left side of his face. Behind him was Elena, also in a similar state.

"Dad, Elena?!"

A torrent of life suddenly rushed over me. I leapt from the chair and embraced them in a tight hug.

"I saw that building hit you and I-"

Nate hugged me tighter, cutting me off.

"We were able to roll into the doorway of the building next to us just before we got smashed."

They sat down in the chairs next to me, both heaving a heavy sigh.

"So now what?" questioned Elena.

"Well, we've gotta get Schäfer back, so we don't have much time to rest," Nate groaned as he stood up and adjusted his gun holster. "You guys ready?"

"As I'll ever be," responded Elena. "How about you, Lil?"

"Absolutely. I'm ready to make that madman pay for what he's done," I said confidently.

"Alright, let's get going."

We shuffled outside, greeted by an eerie silence, interrupted only by the quiet whistling of the blustery mountain wind. Nearby sat an abandoned military truck slowly being consumed by the snow. Dusting off the hood and windshield, we piled in. I was stuck in the middle, with Nate in the passenger's seat and Elena in the driver's. Elena pressed the automatic start button and the engine roared to life. Shifting it into gear, she smiled at us and exclaimed "Here we go!"

We sped off toward the monastery at the top of the mountain. The glistening snowflakes flew passed us in a blur. Up ahead I saw a convoy of other trucks accompanied by several smaller 4x4s.

"Alright, I have an idea," Nate said as he carefully opened the door and hung from the side of the truck.

"What are you doing?!" yelled Elena.

"I'm gonna clear the road!" responded Nate with a cheeky grin.

"Okay, just hold on tight, I'll bring you up close!"

Elena sped toward the rest of the trucks, the howling wind blowing through the cabin. Nate's eyes fluttered to combat the frigid air outside as flakes gathered on his eyelashes. He glanced to the truck next to us and leapt into its open back where a soldier stood. Taking him by surprise, Nate shoved the man off of the truck and over the mountainside. Grabbing the AK47 laying at his feet, he started firing on the other trucks. They immediately took notice and started shooting back. Suddenly the front of Nate's truck started billowing smoke, prompting him to jump to a 4x4 following closely behind him, knocking the driver and turret operator to the jagged ground below. He took command of the steering wheel and floored the accelerator, sending him speeding off toward the front of the pack.

"Elena, we've gotta keep up with him! I'll get him while you steer clear of the other drivers."

"You got it!" she agreed as she promptly took off after Nate.

As we closed in on him, I hung out the window of the door, my pistol gripped in my icy fingers. I noticed a 4x4 with a turret mounted on the back. I took aim and started shooting at the soldier stationed on it. A few shots whizzed by, but he went down easily once one connected.

Nate's vehicle had taken severe damage by this point and was starting to spew smoke from its engine. He drove it next to the turret I had just disarmed and leapt to it, kicking the driver from his seat.

"Elena, get me up to Dad, I have an idea!"

Without a word, she shortened the gap between us. Fighting against the blistering wind, I forced the door open, ready to jump.

"What're you doing?!" worriedly shouted Elena.

"Just watch!" I said, looking back with a smirk.

Reaching Nate's 4x4, I sprung to the turret on the back, clutching the weapon handles to stable my balance.

"Hey, daddy-o!" I smiled at Nate.

"Lily?! I thought you were gonna stay in the truck!" he shouted at me, his head craned back.

"I was, but I thought this would be more fun!"

"It'll help having someone on the gun! Hang on!"

I heard the vehicle's engine roar as we gained even more speed. Bullets started darting passed us. I spun the turret around and pressed the button for it to start whirring up. Once it was going at full speed, I pulled the trigger to start blasting our enemies away. The bullets chewed through their vehicles, causing them to explode into an array of fire and metal as it coated the sky behind us. I made quick work of the convoy, not leaving a single one intact.

"Alright, that's the last of them! Let's go get Schäfer back!" I called to Nate.

"Roger that!" he responded, motioning to Elena to follow. We sped off toward the mountaintop where our comrade was being kept.

We arrived at the small temple. In front was a long, splintery staircase, along with two parked trucks, heat still radiating from their hoods. Snow was starting to pile up on and around the building, making the trek to the entrance increasingly difficult. We shoved our way through the doors, prepared for a fight, but we were met with silence.

We rushed to the second floor where we found Schäfer lying unconscious, his hand resting gently in a small pool of blood. His body flinched as we came to his aid.

"You were right," he coughed harshly.

"About what?" asked Nate.

"Everything you touch turns to shit," he chuckled.

"Come on, let's get you out of here," I insisted as I reached behind his head. He interjected, placing his hand on my arm.

"N-no…" he sputtered. I glanced at Nate and Elena hoping for some instruction but Nate shook his head.

"Did you two find my expedition?" inquired Schäfer.

"Yes, we did," Nate solemnly responded.

"You understand what I had to do?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"If they had found the stone… it would have changed the course of history," Schäfer respired as he continued to cough.

"Easy," Elena assured as she patted his shoulder.

"He took the dagger."

"I know."

"He's gone to the tower… you have to stop him."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure of it," I promised, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"This monastery hides the secret path to Shambhala. You must get the dagger back... find the secret path… and destroy the Stone before he gets his hands on it. Drake... you have to believe."

I watched as Schäfer drew his last breath, eyes drifting closed as the life drained from his face.

"Schäfer…" Nate sighed. I rubbed his back as we silently mourned for our friend. My heart grew heavy with determination to stop Lazarević, to make him pay for the hardships he put my family through. Nate laid Schäfer's hand over his chest and rose to his feet.

"We can't just leave him here…" Elena sighed.

"What choice do we have? You heard him," Nate shrugged.

"Do you think this really could be true?" asked Elena.

"I don't know… but he believed it. That's enough for me."

Nate's sudden change of heart was honorable, leading me to want to follow his example.

We journeyed farther up the mountain toward the ancient monastery near its peak. The buildings were mostly completely square, their colors consisting primarily of white and red horizontal stripes. Between them were bridges to connect the edges of the mountain, although several were crumbling or had completely fallen. The deeper into the monastery we traveled, the more signs of Lazarević I noticed. The snow had prints in it from the soldiers' boots, and several spare weapons had been left behind. I also noticed now-empty jet black storage crates strewn about the snowy complex.

As we were walking along we came across a tall building with a collapsing bridge at the top linking it to the main building on the other side of an expansive ravine. As we began climbing, Elena glanced at Nate, a look of panic washing over her face.

"Get down, snipers!"

We dove behind some fallen wooden beams. Luckily, a sniper rifle was sitting there as if it had been waiting for us.

"I'll take care of the snipers. You guys watch my back."

At this point, soldiers had made their way across the bridge and were now firing down upon us. Using the platforms and collapsed structures as cover, Elena and I somehow managed to make it up the tower far enough to fight back. The wood shattered splinters as the bullets impacted around us. Rushing farther up the structure we were able to successfully flank the soldiers, quickly taking them out. Just as the last one fell, an explosion erupted from one of the towers on the other side of the bridge.

"Ho-holy shit, did I do that?!" exclaimed Nate as the building fell sideways into one of its counterparts, crushing the soldiers within.

"Well, that was lucky!" smiled Elena.

We made our way into the monastery's main group of buildings. The ceilings were littered with holes, and several hallways had collapsed. The rooms were lined with empty bookcases, with desks and chairs occupying the center of each room. I could hear murmuring coming from distant buildings, but decided to worry about that when the time came.

We continued through the complex, eventually arriving within view of the main building: a massive stone structure painted to match the ones surrounding it. At its entrance was an ornate red bridge with several soldiers crossing. At the front I spotted Lazarević with Harry and Chloe following close behind. Lazarević raised his right hand, motioning for them to stop. He slowly turned around and started marching slowly between the ranks of his men, carefully analyzing each one. Before reaching the end of the line, he stopped and faced a soldier. Trying to listen over the wind, I managed to make out Lazarević shouting the word "traitor." He grabbed the soldier by the neck and lifted him high into the air, then walked to the edge of the bridge. Chuckling for a moment, he tossed the soldier off the bridge into the abyss below. His screams echoed throughout the mountain range until they faded into the distance. He shoved his way back through the line and continued into the building.

We waited until the bridge had been cleared of any opposition, then crept over to the door. Peering inside, I saw a small entrance hallway, the walls lined with ornate drapes and sills containing rows of melted candles. We slunked down the hall and slowly opened the main entrance door. Inside was a massive room that went up at least three storeys. In the middle were several desks, chairs, and bookcases, all sitting at a slightly lower level than the rest of the room. A small number of soldiers were roaming the room, guarding it from any possible intruders - namely, us.

We crept a few steps back from the door so the soldiers wouldn't hear us.

"I didn't see any other entrances…" said Nate, scratching his chin.

"I… guess that only leaves one option," commented Elena as she checked her pistol. "What do ya think?"

"I would hate for Lily to get hurt, but I suppose she's proven herself several times already. Get your weapons ready, we go in on three."

We huddled around the door, our weapons drawn and loaded.

In a hushed voice, Nate started the countdown.

"Three, two, one, NOW!"

He tackled through the door and immediately started shooting at anything that moved, with Elena and I following suit. Some of the soldiers who were sitting in chairs fell backwards from surprise; we took them down first. The rest rushed for their rifles leaning against the walls, but none were able to reach them before being defeated. The room was quickly cleared, but we made quite a racket, gaining the attention of the other soldiers upstairs. We heard the stomping of footsteps overhead as they ran toward the staircase lining the right wall. Taking cover behind the bookcases, we waited for them to arrive on our floor to ambush them. Their steps slowed to a careful walk as they searched for us. In perfect synergy, the three of us broke the neck of the nearest soldier and used their bodies for shields while mowing down the rest of them.

Silence fell.

"... I think that's the last of them. For now, at least," sighed Nate.

We made our way upstairs, making sure to keep our footsteps hushed as to not draw the attention of more guards. Reaching the balcony at the top of the structure, we were met with a top-down view of an array of small, twisting corridors reaching out to the edge of the mountain. To our right was a ladder leading down to a set of snowy stone stairs. We followed the path ahead and entered the maze laid out before us.

"Well, here we go…" sighed Nate. With us following closely behind, he confidently strode forward, determined to meet his goal.


	12. Welcome to Shambhala

It took a couple hours to make it through the maze. Luckily Nate was able to figure his way through the various traps and dead ends. Finally, we reached a small wooden door, painted red to match the rest of the structures. Beyond, I could hear the popping of gunshots and men screaming. Emerging, we arrived at an open area with a long platform flanked by two shallow trenches that led to a gate at the top of a short flight of stairs. There were soldiers dotted around the snow shooting toward the area around the door. I glanced over and saw several beasts like we had been fighting earlier. Nate grabbed my shoulder and pulled me backward, quickly closing the door in front of me. He placed his index finger on his lips, signifying for me to stay quiet. We stood there until the gun fire had stopped and the monsters could no longer be heard.

Once more we opened the door, this time only to find the soldiers' bloody, mangled bodies strewn around the area. Though their deep footprints were still prominently planted in the snow, the creatures were nowhere in sight. We made our way toward the tall doors up the stairs on our left. Inside was a massive circular room. The floors and walls were dark marble with edge details of shimmering gold. The walls were lined with large ornaments shaped like the Phurba. Adjacent to the entrance was a set of golden doors, their height towering over the ones we just walked through. A beautiful carving of a tree was carved into the doors, featuring a hole similar to the other Phurba keyholes near the base of its trunk. After thinking for a moment, Nate went around the room turning them all upside down. This caused a pillar topped with a blue orb placed above a small stone bowl rose up from the middle of the floor.

A lone soldier entered through the doors behind us. Quickly noticing, Nate pressed his gun up to the unsuspecting soldier's head.

"Drop the gun!" Nate shouted and the soldier obeyed him.

I heard a familiar gravelly voice coming up the steps.

"I should've killed you when I had the chance. A mistake I won't make twice," said Lazarević as he stomped into the room, his army following close behind. My heart dropped as Lazarević aimed his pistol at Nate. I reached for my gun and aimed at Lazarević's head, longing to fulfill my promise to Schäfer. My hand trembled as my finger rested over the trigger.

"It's amazing how one so young can be filled with such anger and rage," Lazarević commented with admiration. I pressed the gun's barrel closer.

"Do it! See how long you'll survive!" he shouted. I almost accepted his offer until I glanced over at Nate, only to see his terrified expression encouraging me to lower my weapon. My grip never loosened as Lazarević laughed deviously as he turned to Nate.

"Now, you _will_ open the gate to Shambhala," Lazarević demanded.

"Go to hell!" Nate huffed.

"Are you a student of history, Mr. Drake?" asked Lazarević as he paced back and forth.

"I've read a book or two."

"Hmm… Genghis Khan, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot… they were all great men. But do you know why they prevailed?"

"I'm sure you're gonna tell us."

"Because they had the will to do what other men would not," Lazarević scoffed as he raised his pistol and fired at the soldier Nate held captive. I cringed away as the soldier's body fell limp.

"Compassion is the enemy. Mercy defeats us. Now, unless you wish to test me still further, you will drop your weapons!" shouted Lazarević. I mimicked my partners, tossing my gun to the ground.

"Kick them away."

Lazarević's soldiers claimed our weapons as we obeyed.

"So - you have tested my will. Now it is my turn to test yours."

"Killing us won't get you anywhere!" Elena snapped.

"Him? Yes," said Lazarević gesturing to Nate. "But you…"

I stepped in front of Elena as he stalked menacingly towards her.

"Don't even think about it," I threatened.

"Fascinating…" Lazarević respired. His reaction led me to believe he never encountered a child who stood up to him before.

"If you hurt them you get _nothing_ from me!" retorted Nate.

"Well then, it appears we are at a stalemate. Unless - I add another pawn to the board. Bring her in!"

Harry and Chloe piled into the room with a few more soldiers.

"Pretty boy's back!" I grinned with fake enthusiasm. Harry shot me a nasty look as they entered and pushed Chloe towards Elena and I.

"Now, we will use one as a lesson, the other as incentive to cooperate..."

Lazarević faced me.

"...and the little one to prove a point, you choose."

"This is bullshit, Nate," Chloe huffed.

"Yeah, don't play into his game." Elena added.

Nate stood with his fists clenched.

"If you want my help, you let them go."

"This is not a negotiation! Who would you sacrifice, and who would you save?"

I flinched at Lazarević's sudden shouting. For Nate's sake, I fought back the enveloping fear.

"Alright, enough with the theatrics. I'll do what you want," Nate sighed in defeat. He approached the blue orb at the center of the room. The moment he reached into his pocket, Harry and Lazarević's soldiers aimed their guns at Nate.

"Calm down."

Nate pulled out the small box containing resin he found back at the ice cave. Underneath the orb was a stone bowl where Nate tossed the blue pebbles inside.

"Hey pretty boy, hand me your lighter," demanded Nate gesturing to Harry. I couldn't help but smirk as I appreciated Nate using my nickname for Harry. He turned to Lazarević as if he was seeking permission to follow Nate's command. After receiving an approving nod, Harry handed Nate his lighter.

With the flick of the lighter, a blue light illuminated the room. Behind us, a sketch of a tree shadowed across the wall. Nate reached for the Phurba as he approached the tree, shoving it into a triangular hole. The ground shook and the walls rumbled as the golden doors grinded open. Beyond them was a stone tunnel with horizontal platforms, the walls lined with dimly lit torches. To the right was a rounded entrance to a large cave. Within the cave were several platforms leading to the other side, although many had crumbled to the cavern floor. The walls were carved with even more ornate trees.

"What is this?!" shouted Lazarević.

"How should I know?" shrugged Nate. Lazarević faced Harry with fury.

"Find a way across!" he demanded. "Take him and the little one with you, maybe this time it will get done right!"

I glared at Lazarević as I hurried away without a fuss.

"Oh, and Mr. Drake, don't try anything clever," he reminded with a devious smile.

Harry reached for my arm and dragged me along as he pushed Nate down a rocky path.

"You're a backstabbing son of a bitch," Nate barked.

"Yeah, well I learn from the best didn't I? Get a move on. C'mon, you first, darlin'," Harry ordered, motioning to me with his pistol.

"Big strong man with that gun aren't you?" Nate mocked.

"Don't worry, he's all talk. Pretty boy's afraid to get his hands dirty," I added with a smirk. "Your mother must be so proud of your big _gun_!"

"You want to test that, love?" asked Harry. I twirled on my heel to face our captor.

"You don't have the guts to the pull trigger!" I pestered. Harry's face scrunched as he rushed toward me and pressed the gun against the side of my head.

"Lily, stop! " Nate begged. A rush of adrenaline kicked in as Harry's finger rested over the trigger.

"Do it," I encouraged. I read Harry's face as we glared at each other intensely. Hatred radiated from him.

"Harry, if you hurt her, you get _nothing_ from me!"

Harry lifted his gun and fired at the wall behind me. My ears rang from the aftershock of the loud pop which echoed off the cavern walls.

"I won't miss next time… get a move on," Harry demanded as he kicked me towards Nate, who reached for my wrist.

"What were you _thinking_?!" Nate muttered.

"Sorry, Dad. I got carried away…" I apologized.

"You don't want to test him."

"Dad, Harry's many things but he's no killer," I persisted.

"I wouldn't put it past him," said Nate as he glanced back at Harry.

"You two better not be plotting over there," he threatened as he waved his gun around.

"Back off, Harry, you're the one with the gun. It'd be stupid for us to do anything," Nate snapped.

"If I knew you were going to be a such a pain in my ass, I would have checked the remains of that building back in Venice," Harry snarled at me.

"I bet you regret that don't you?" I teased. I never left Nate's side as we continued the rock path. We leapt over large gaps and crawled through tight spaces until we reached a high ledge that required a large bit of climbing. When I realized how far we had to go, my head dropped to my ankle. Its bandages were soaked with blood from the fresh wound I received in the cave, as it never had time to properly heal. I lifted my head to find Nate expressing concern. Before he asked, I rose my hand in protest.

"I'll be fine. It's nothing I can't handle," I smiled, trying to hide the pain. If I told people long enough I was okay, then I'd believe it too, I hoped.

"If you need help, don't hesitate to ask," Nate offered as he began to climb. I observed my partner as he carefully selected a ledge to move forward. I outstretched my legs as far as they could allow, with my arms shaking violently as I tried to relieve pressure off my damaged ankle. Nate glanced back to check on me every few paces and I'd lie about my state every time.

We were nearing the top when my foot rested on a lone stone that gave way. I dug my fingers into the cliff as I began to fall, desperately searching for a stray rock. My broken finger seared with pain as it bore my weight. After a few moments, I was able to latch my hand onto a ledge and I shoved my foot into the wall, skidding me to a stop. I bit my lip to prevent myself from screaming as a sharp pain ran up my leg. I lowered my head to find I used my damaged ankle and beyond that, menacing spikes poked through the fog below, hungering to impale me.

"Lily!" Nate shrieked. "Are you okay?!"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit startled," I winced.

"Go on ahead, I'll catch up," I called to him as I began to ascend. When Nate reached the top, he rested on his palms and waited for me.

"Come on, we haven't got all day," Harry urged.

"I'm not leaving her to fend for herself!" Nate snapped. I finally made it back to my group.

"Here, I got you," Nate said as he lowered his hand. I grabbed it and he pulled me to safety. The moment I touched solid ground, Nate pulled me in for a hug.

"Get a move on."

I glared at Harry over Nate's shoulder as he pulled himself up.

"You're really starting to get on my nerves, _pretty boy_."

"I have a name, you know."

"I know, but I like your nickname better," I grinned. I heard Nate chuckle quietly as we released our hug. Harry lifted his foot and kicked me harshly into Nate as encouragement to continue exploring. Nate and I worked together in overcoming the cavern's challenges with Harry biting at our heels. Another large gap prevented us from reaching a platform.

"Looks like we'll have to jump," said Nate panning to my ankle.

"Dad, I'll be fine."

"That's what you said last time," he reminded me.

"Dad?" questioned Harry. "I never pictured you as a father figure."

"What can I say? I'm full of surprises," Nate shrugged. He observed the gap to determine the best approach.

"Alright, I'll hop across-" Nate began.

"Whoa there, cowboy," Harry interrupted. "I'll go first so you won't try anything clever."

"What can he possibly do? It's not like he can go anywhere," I huffed.

"I'm not going to take that chance."

" _Fine_. Lil, after Harry, I'll hop across and catch you," explained Nate.

"Sounds good," I nodded then turned to Harry.

"If you do _anything_ to my father before I make it over… you'll regret it," I threatened.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Harry smiled.

"As much as you'd like to, huh?" added Nate.

Harry glared at him as he charged into a sprint. He ungracefully stepped onto the platform which began to crumble away as he hurried further down the structure.

"Great…" Nate and I sighed when we realized we had to rely on Harry to make it across.

"What's wrong? Don't you trust me?" he asked as he outstretched his hand. Nate turned to me to speak, but I cut him off before he could get a word out.

"I know, Dad, 'Be careful.' You too," I nodded. I watched as Nate dashed across, hoping Harry would keep his word. I left a sigh of relief as Harry lifted Nate onto the platform.

"See? You should have more faith in me, chum," said Harry as he patted Nate's back. He shrugged Harry off as he faced me.

"You can do this, Lil," Nate encouraged. I took a deep breath before I sprang across, stretching my arm as far as I could. Our hands interlocked as I continued to fall, thankful I didn't slip between his fingers. I swung my legs with enough momentum to assist Nate in pulling me up. Surprisingly, Harry reached down and grabbed my arm, helping Nate pull me up.

"I had that." he seethed at Harry. "See, I knew you could do it," Nate heaved as we slumped to catch our breath.

"Thanks," I smiled.

"Are you two always this slow?" Harry frowned.

"Why are you in such a hurry to get back to Lazarević? You miss your buddy?" I teased as I helped Nate to his feet.

"Do you want to find out what happens if you keep him waiting?"

I was curious on the outcome but Nate's expression warned me to not provoke Harry further. We followed Nate deeper into the caverns.

"You better not be leading me into a dead end," barked Harry.

"It's this way," said Nate as we squeezed through a crack up ahead. We were greeted by a ravine with more platforms to overcome.

"Hope you can make those jumps on your own pretty boy, cause I sure as hell am not going to to help you," Nate chuckled at Harry as we made our way across.

"If you can do it, I can do it," Harry replied. As we neared the end of the ravine, I noticed gorgeous statues representing a woman's face hovering over an ancient wooden door.

"Check out these statues, Lil!" Nate gasped in awe.

"They're stunning! I just wish we were here under better circumstances," I sighed.

"You and me both," he nodded. We finally reached the wooden door covered with intricate designs. The three of us, struggling for a moment, swung the ancient door open, revealing a circular room made out of cobblestones. On either side were raised structures with three stone cylinders covered in carved Tibetan symbols. Between the rows of cylinders was a comparatively small wooden door.

"So what do we do?" inquired Harry impatiently.

"Just wait here. As usual, I'll take care of everything," Nate insisted. A sense of familiarity came over me as I observed the symbols.

"Say Dad, haven't we seen these symbols before?" I pondered.

"I think you're right," Nate agreed as he reached for his journal. I peeked over his shoulder as he skimmed through the yellowed pages until he found a sketch of the same cylinders.

"Bingo!" Nate exclaimed. He carefully read what was scribbled in the corner of the page.

"It looks like we have to rotate the cylinders and have them correspond with this," he explained. I memorized the drawing and glanced at the ones above us.

"I'll get the right, Dad can get the left, and Harry?" I directed before I faced our captor.

"Yes, sweetheart?" he responded.

"You can just stand there and look pretty."

"She really is your daughter, Nate," Harry snarked.

"That's my girl," Nate complimented proudly. I winked at him as I headed to my post.

With a great push, the cylinders rotated in any direction I wanted. I was absolutely fascinated by the technology used to create this mechanism.

"As the world the rotates, so does my boredom. Could you hurry up?" Harry nagged. I heaved an angry sigh once as I finished my task.

"I'm one step away from risking it all just so I can put a crater in that pretty face of yours!" I grunted.

"She's a feisty one. I like her," Harry grinned.

"Shut up, stop being creepy," I hushed.

Once Nate completed his side, a small structure representing a crank rose from the ground. Large wooden sticks stuck out on the rim of the crank. We approached the structure and twisted it until a loud click echoed throughout the chamber, followed by the sound of rushing water. The doors opened leading to the other side of the chasm where we had left the rest of our party. Glancing out, I noticed the platforms were now positioned in a straight line. Suddenly, I heard a roar, then felt a couple pulses quake through the ground. I looked back and saw two beasts had dropped from the ceiling and were now fighting Harry and Nate. Lazarević's men rushed inside and started shooting the monsters. The amount of firepower quickly overpowered them as they crashed to the ground.

One laid there growling in pain, attempting to stand back up. Lazarević put his boot on its back and stomped it back to the floor. He took out his double barrel shotgun and blasted it square in the chest, sending its blue blood splashing everywhere. Lazarević chuckled as he wiped it from his grotesque face.

He kicked the cadaver onto its back. Kneeling down, he placed his hand under the creature's jaw then pulled. The mask easily came apart from the rest of the apparent costume. Behind it was the lifeless face of a blue-skinned man, his eyes white and mouth agape.

"Scarecrows… guardians to frighten trespassers," Lazarević commented.

"Yeah, well, it's bloody effective," panted Harry, still out of breath from running from the guardians.

"Lazarević, I've done what you asked. Let them go," Nate commanded.

Two more soldiers led Elena and Chloe into the room.

"Always bargaining… but you have played your last hand, and lost." scoffed Lazarević.

I looked over and saw Harry raise his gun at Nate.

"Looks like it's the end of the road, mate," he chuckled.

"No, no, no, not yet. I want him to see Shambhala, and die knowing that I have taken it from him," growled Lazarević. "Open the gate!"

Two soldiers ran to the spoked wheels on either side of the door and cranked them until we heard a heavy clunk. The doors swung away from us, revealing a steep staircase leading down to a bright light. Its ceiling was covered in vines and a thin layer of water.

We walked down the stairs onto a large brick platform attached to the side of a cliff. In front of us was a shining, crumbling city stretching off into the distance. We all stood there for a moment, enveloped by awe.

"Now, to take care of the thorn that's been in my side for far too long."

Lazarević drew his pistol and pointed it at Chloe.

"On your knees."

Harry hurriedly cut in.

"Hey, hey, uh - Zoran, we had a deal."

"I do not suffer traitors," Lazarević retorted.

"Oh, right, so I suppose you know exactly how to find the Stone, then… you won't be needing me…" Harry said, starting to turn away.

Lazarević walks up to Chloe and holds the gun to her head. He pushes her over to Harry, then turns to Nate, Elena and I.

"... thanks," said Harry sheepishly.

"On your knees," Lazarević ordered.

One of the soldiers grabs Nate to shove him down, but he tried to wrestle the gun away from the soldier. An arrow suddenly strikes the soldier in his back, causing him to fall to the ground, the gun resting in Nate's hands.

"What is this?!" shouted Lazarević. He turned around to see the three guardians who had jumped out of the trees firing arrows from their crossbows, one of which struck a soldier in the head.

"Fire, you fools!" Lazarević commanded.

In the heat of the fight, Chloe grabbed Harry's gun and elbowed him in the face.

"Run!" she shouted, helping Elena pound another soldier to the ground.

The four of us ran off into the city, hoping to find some semblance of safety while we gained our bearings.


	13. Determination

We finally reached a small courtyard where we could no longer hear Lazarević's forces. Two pavilions were sat squarely in the middle of the area, the rest of which was covered in vines and crumbling stone tiles. Skeletons wearing ancient armor were strewn around the ground, many of which were half-covered in moss.

I leaned against a nearby pillar to relieve pressure from my throbbing ankle. A bead of sweat rolled down my cheek as I trembled from attempting to suppress the pain. My efforts were proven worthless when Nate approached me, a concerned look on his face.

"Are you okay?" he asked, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. His concern for my health reflected in his eyes.

"I'm fine," I winced.

"We should find a place to hide so you can rest," he offered.

"Lazarević will find the stone before us. We can't stop now."

"The stone isn't worth destroying yourself over," Nate sternly reprimanded.

"I said I'm _fine_!" I snapped harshly. Nate flinched back from the sudden anger and I almost felt guilty for raising my voice. After a short awkward silence, Chloe broke the quiet.

"Lazarević and his crew would have headed into the city, so if we make it back to the entrance, it should be clear by now."

"Um, Chloe, we're still going after the stone," Nate interjected.

"We have to stop Lazarević," Elena added.

"How exactly do we do that?" asked Chloe as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Get to the stone first," Nate began.

"Then destroy it," I added. Nate glanced back at me with a smirk.

"Don't tell me you guys are buying into this supernatural nonsense," Chloe shook her head.

"Trust me Chloe, I used to not believe in the supernatural, but after everything I've seen, it's not impossible. I mean, we're standing in the middle of Shambhala for Pete's sake," I commented.

"Do I have to remind you three that we're going against a nut job, who believes he's fulfilling some sort of prophecy and that the stone will make him immortal?" stressed Chloe.

"I'm just trying to set things right…" admitted Nate.

"… and maybe save the world?" Elena shrugged.

"You're not serious?" laughed Chloe. "The world doesn't care if you save it. If you stick your neck out, you're asking to lose your head."

She turned to me, her eyes filled with determination.

"Do you think this world needs saving?"

My eyes narrowed at the strange question. Did she think my opinion would change Nate and Elena's mind? I pondered for a moment.

"It hasn't always treated me fairly, but I think it does. I need to keep a promise I made," I said, lowering my head as Schäfer came to mind. "Not to mention it brought me to you guys, so it can't be that terrible."

"You told me you wanted to take this guy down," Nate reminded her.

"Yes, and I want to see him pay _more_ than you do, but that's not how it will end," Chloe gestured to the corpses strewn about.

"This is how it will end."

"No… no, not this time," said Nate firmly. I smiled at my father with admiration.

"Come on, whaddaya say?" grinned Elena.

"I say you're all crazy, but let's go save your bloody world," Chloe sighed in defeat.

Suddenly a golden arrow pierced the ground a few inches in front of my feet. I glanced up and saw a group of guardians growling down at us.

"Guardians!" I shouted. I whipped out my pistol and started shooting up at them. Several of my shots connected, but they didn't seem fazed by it. They continued to fire at us as they bounded around the upper area of the courtyard. I ran to cover, pain erupting from my leg. I glanced at everyone else. Each of them had hunkered behind cover, peeking out every few seconds to fire off a few rounds, none of which did any good.

I continued to fire until I heard the empty click of my spent clip. I took a step back into cover and felt something warm under my sore foot. I looked down and saw several small pieces of glowing turquoise resin. Each was just about the right size and shape to fit in my gun. I popped the clip out and stuck the pieces in. They were a bit snug, but I figured they would work fine. Emerging from cover, I fired my fresh ammo at the guardian closest to me. The tiny flaming pellet flew from my gun, leaving a blue streak behind it. As it struck its target, blue flames erupted from the guardian's chest where it had entered. It stumbled backwards and fell from the pavilion and landed on the ground with a heavy thud. It laid there motionless as the blue embers engulfed the rest of its body. I emptied my clip into the rest of the guardians, each going down just as easily. With an exhausted sigh, I slumped down against the pillar I had been hiding behind. Turning my face towards Nate, I smiled and said "They're weak to the very thing giving them power. Pretty neat, huh?"

By this point I could barely feel my leg, and I could tell Nate knew. He rushed over and knelt down next to me.

"Lily, we need to stop until you can walk. I know how to get to the stone; we'll beat Lazarević there, I promise."

"I'm not the only one who's bad at lying, Dad. If we don't leave now, we'll never beat him there. If I put most of my weight on my good leg…" I used the pillar to prop myself up. "… we should be able to make it there."

"Lily…"

He analyzed me with tears in his eyes, unsure what to do.

Suddenly I felt a crunch beneath my feet. I looked down and saw a blinding blue light shining beneath my foot, its radiance feeding life back into my damaged leg. I felt feeling return to my foot and my shoe loosen slightly. I could tell it was still immensely damaged, but it felt a little more normal.

"What… was that…?" gasped Elena.

"I think that was the resin reacting to the pressure Lil was putting on it. I guess the amount of damage in her leg and the rubber of her shoe was enough to absorb the negative effects of the stone!" Nate observed.

"Let's get going, guys. We need to beat Lazarević to the stone," I reminded everyone. I made my way toward the exit, determined to meet our goal.

As we made our way through the catacombs, we were finally greeted by stone stairs made from the same material as the the top of the city. Reaching the top, we were blinded by a brilliant blue light as we entered the room. A large orb surrounded by a transparent glaze was installed into the center of an ornamental tree. The sun's rays reflected off the orb, illuminating the walls of the temple.

"The Cintamani stone… it's real!" I gasped.

"I can't believe we beat them here," said Chloe as she checked for unwanted visitors.

"It's beautiful," sighed Elena in awe.

I stood there in shock, thankful that our hardships weren't for nothing.

"Alright, let's smash this thing!" said Chloe as she rose a large rock over her head.

"Hold on, something's not right," Nate interjected as he raised his arm, motioning for her to stop. He approached the sculpture with caution as he prepared to examine it.

"Marco Polo had it wrong… this isn't sapphire, it's amber!" Nate concluded.

"Amber?" The girls and I repeated.

"As in the material that fossilized the dinosaurs?" I questioned as a certain Hollywood flick entered my mind. Nate glanced back at me.

"Yes, _that_ amber," he sassed in return.

"So it's tree sap," I shrugged at Nate. He approached an intricate carving of a tree in the wall mimicking the one right in front of us..

"Wait a minute!" Nate gasped.

"What is it?" asked Elena.

"You gotta be shitting me?!" he exclaimed.

"Hello, Nate?" Chloe waved her hand but he was too far gone to notice.

"I hate it when he does this," Elena sighed irritably.

"Tell me about it," Chloe agreed.

"You get used to it," I said nonchalantly.

"How could I have missed this?!" Nate's eyes widened with realization. I approached him with caution as if he were a balloon about to pop.

"Dad?" I spoke softly. Nate rambled to himself, ignoring everyone around him.

"Dad!" I said louder this time, causing him to jump back to reality. He panned to me in a daze with his mouth slightly ajar.

"We'd like to be on the same page…?"

"There's not actually a stone. It's the resin, the sap from the tree of life!" Nate held my shoulder tightly as he said this.

"The Tree of Life?" I repeated.

"Okay, hold on… you lost me," said Chloe as she gestured towards the sculpture. "You mean this tree?"

Behind Nate was a forest expanding over the horizon. An enormous tree stretched into the sky, almost matching the carving in the temple.

"No… that one," I said pointing to the massive piece of timber. Everyone faced the field of trees that protected the magical sap.

"There he is… Lazarević!" gritted Elena. Nate reached for binoculars to observe our enemies striding towards our goal.

"He's headed to the tree… oh my God, the black teeth!" Nate exclaimed.

"The what?" asked Elena.

"Dad… you're doing it again," I reminded him.

"The black teeth on those guardian things and the bodies back in Borneo… they ate the resin-" he began.

"-and it changed them somehow!" I finished with a gasp. Nate and I glanced at each other with worry.

"How do they do that?" I heard Chloe ask Elena.

"I could never figure it out," Elena joked.

"Dad, we have to stop him now!" I insisted.

"You guys honestly don't think that's what Lazarević is planning to do?" inquired Chloe.

"Do you want to wait and find out?!" Nate snapped.

"Bravo, Sherlock and Watson… and pet," a familiar voice complimented. The four of us turned to find Harry creeping along the wall. His face was covered with bruises and cuts as he clutched his stomach, where his hand was drenched in the thick blood oozing from his gut. Nate whipped out his pistol as Harry pressed against the wall and slid to the ground to catch his breath.

"Well done," he heaved.

"Flynn..." Nate sympathetically sighed.

"What's the matter? Disappointed Lazare-bitćh beat you to it?" he chuckled.

We watched him struggle to reposition himself.

"I'm afraid you just missed him, so I figured I'd stay behind and wait for you to join my little party,"

"You want us to throw a pity party for you? Sorry pretty boy, I forgot to bake a cake and left the favors at home," I snarked.

"She's just like you Nate, she never knows when to stop with the quips," Harry retorted.

"What can I say? I learn from the best," I bragged proudly.

"Enough charades, Harry. What are you talking about?" Nate persisted.

"Maybe that's what old Zoran wanted all along, eh? He's cleverer than he looks," Harry winced. As he said this, Elena drew closer to him with me cautiously shadowing her. An unpleasant feeling came over me as I observed Harry.

"We can still stop him," said Elena with determination.

"Elena, don't even bother," Nate and I protested. I inched closer as Elena approached Harry.

"No, we can help you."

One of Elena's best qualities was her compassion for the less fortunate, something I always admired. I learned the hard way this trait can be your greatest weakness.

"Sorry love. This isn't a movie, and you're not the plucky little girl who reforms the villain and saves the day…" Harry respired.

I prepared myself for a quick rescue as Harry reached behind his back. Fear for my friends enveloped me as Harry revealed a grenade, his finger pressed tightly on top.

"A parting gift from Lazarević. Pity he took the pin," said Harry wearing a devious grin as he dropped the grenade. I launched myself at Elena as we were engulfed by flames. I clung to her as the temple's ceiling began to crumble and debris crashed around us. As we laid there, I could feel my skin stinging from being seared by the fire. My ears rang loudly from the explosion, causing sounds around me to distort. I heard mumbling voices once the flames vanished.

"Oh God, Elena! Lily!" a muffled voice shrieked. I wanted to answer its worried call but the searing pain in my body made it impossible to speak.

"I've got Lily, you take Elena," another voice ordered. A pair of hands gently rolled underneath and hoisted me from the ground. With little strength I had left, I opened my eyes to find Chloe cradling me in her arms.

"C-Chloe?" I stuttered.

"Yes, darling?" she asked. My tender joints ached as I tugged her close, wanting to say something I only wanted her to hear.

"It hurts… everything hurts," I barely whispered.

"I know, love. Everything's going to be okay," she soothed as we descended a flight of stairs. A gruesome scene of blood splattered about the temple frightened me as I noticed the absence of corpses.

"Chloe?" I respired.

"Yes, Lily?"

"Where's Dad and Elena?" my throat burned with every word.

"I'm here Lil. I've got Elena too," Nate replied weakly. Chloe swung me around so I could face my family. I bit my knuckle to prevent myself from crying when I saw Elena in Nate's arms. She had been hit by the brunt of the explosion and wasn't moving. Her front was covered in burn marks and blood, which I hoped was from Flynn.

"I'm sorry, Dad. If only I was faster I could've-" I choked.

"You have nothing to apologize for Lily, you did your best. She's going to be okay," he assured but his tone spoke otherwise,

"We can't fight Lazarević and his men like this, Nate. Let's come up with a plan," Chloe suggested.

"R-right," Nate agreed. I winced as Chloe laid me against rubble. My efforts for protecting Nate from seeing in me pain were wasted as tears stung my eyes. I could feel life slowly draining from me as I sat there drenched in sweat. My eyes panned to my leg which was covered in purple splotches and scorch marks from Harry's trap. Whatever damage was healed by the resin had been easily undone. I glanced over and saw Elena's lifeless body resting beside me. Thankfully I noticed she was breathing, albeit extremely weakly.

"Dad…" I said weakly. "Do you have any resin left in that vial?"

"Yes… why?" he inquired.

"I need it… crush it over me…"

"Lily, a tiny amount healed you the first time, but this is a lot more than just your leg; you need a hospital. Stay here while I go finish things down there. Chloe, look after them. I'll return, I promise."

"You'd bloody better," Chloe responded.

My head slumped sideways as I watched Nate run off toward his final destination.

"Dad…" I whispered as my eyes drifted shut.

In the darkness of my closed eyes, I saw a faint blue light slowly growing into a bright blue flame identical to the one that had healed my leg. My eyes shot open. I didn't feel any pain, but when I looked down, I saw I still had the same amount of damage as before.

"I need to go help Dad," I sternly told Chloe.

"What? Lily, what're you talking about, you can't do anything in that state!"

"Watch me."

Glancing down to Elena, I took a deep breath as I strode off to save the person I cared for most.


	14. The Blue Flame

As I ran toward the tree's roots, I passed the bodies of the men Nate fought through to get there. Unfortunately, Lazarević wasn't among them. I sprinted down the steps, eventually coming upon the tree's several giant roots emerging from the ground. Directly beneath the tree was a giant pool of bright blue sap, its light illuminating the entire area.

Nate was standing next to the pool, his hand raised as two guards pointed their weapons at him. Lazarević was kneeling next to the pool, dipping his cupped hands into the oily liquid. He raised it to his lips and drank it as streams of blue ran down his chin. The burn marks on his face faded away as they were replaced by brand new skin. He stood and motioned for his guards to stand down. Walking up to Nate, he grabbed his neck and raised him into the air. Nate struggled to free himself, but Lazarević's grip was far too strong.

I flung myself as fast as my feet could carry me down the hill leading to the pool and crashed myself into Lazarević, knocking him down and freeing Nate, who took this moment to grab the rifle from a guard, shooting them both down.

Lazarević quickly got back up. As I slowly struggled to stand, I glanced up to see him glaring down at me, his eyes filled with rage.

"You insect! You're supposed to be _dead_!"

"You touch her and you're the one who'll be dead," warned Nate as he pointed the rifle at Lazarević.

"You think that will stop me?" Lazarević scoffed as he turned back to me and slapped my head with the back of his hand. I felt a snap in my neck as I flew into the inky pool in front of me. I couldn't move. I heard gunfire behind me, but I felt helpless as I laid there dying.

 _I have to help_ , I thought. _I NEED to help!_

Suddenly I felt a rush of warmth flood my body. I could feel everything once more, but I felt more powerful than I ever had before. I stood up and opened my eyes. Blue flames surrounded me, giving everything a light blue tint. However, they weren't causing me any pain. Instead, the feeling it gave was akin to that of a cup of cocoa on a snowy Winter day. I glanced down at the rest of my body and saw each of my injuries had disappeared as steam emanated from where they once were. As I slowly turned around, I saw Lazarević pointing his shotgun at Nate, who was laying on the ground covered in bruises.

"LAZAREVIIIIĆ!" I screamed, power surging from every point of my being. I felt myself rise into the air above the pool, then without a second thought, I flew at Lazarević, the world blurring passed me. I slammed my fist into Lazarević's gut. He coughed up blood as he doubled over in pain.

"I'm ending this. Now."

He looked up at me, his eyes now filled with fear as blood dripped from his mouth. With the same speed as before, I rushed at him, kicking him high into the air. I jumped toward him and kicked him once more. Using the flames around me, I was able to reach the point to where he was flying before he arrived and kicked him once more. The arena around us was a blur of blue as I tossed him around like a ragdoll. Sending him high above the pool of sap, I prepared for the final strike. For the single moment I hovered there, I glanced over to the cliff where Chloe and Elena sat. I channeled my rage into my fist, which I held high above me, ready to strike.

"This is over!" I shouted as I brought my fist down on Lazarević as he flew into me. We slammed into the pool below, creating fissures in the ground and draining the remaining sap into the Earth. As I slowly stood back up, I looked down at Lazarević's broken, lifeless body slumped in the crater I had created. Suddenly, I felt an ocean of pain surge through me. I glanced to Nate and collapsed backwards. As the ground below me started to rumble, I felt him scoop me up and rush back up the stairs.

I felt as if I needed to sleep, but my need to stay with him kept me awake.

"We need to get out of here, now!" Nate ordered once we got back to Chloe and Elena.

"What the hell happened down there, Nate?!" she queried as she scooped Elena into her arms.

"I'll explain later! Run!"

Nate and Chloe, their precious cargo in tow, ran up the stairs as quickly as their tired legs could go. The ground growled as it quaked, the earth damaged from the crumbling Tree of Life. I watched as they crossed a long, collapsing bridge. Just before reaching the stairs leading to the exit, a single Guardian tackled Nate to the ground, sending me flying a few feet away. The surge of anger I felt toward the beast sent a shock of energy through me. Once more the world turned blue as I suddenly found myself blurring towards it, burying my fist in its chest as the wind from my sudden speed whistled passed us. As its face filled with surprise, it fell away into the tree-filled abyss below. I crumpled back to the ground as my last ounce of strength left me.

"Dad… let's get out of here…"

I felt him carry toward salvation as I closed my eyes and felt the chill of snowflakes begin to blanket my skin.

As I drifted back to reality, I found myself wrapped in itchy wool sheets. My head felt empty as I tried to remember how I got here. A familiar cozy atmosphere engulfed me. The room was furnished with a few wooden dressers and Tibetan artifacts, similar to the medical room I awoke in a few days ago. I made myself comfortable on the edge of my cot to relieve my tight muscles. My head swam as I sat up, causing me to almost fall over. I gripped the cot to stable myself until my mind cleared.

As I clutched the bed, I noticed the splint was no longer on my finger. I examined it, flexing it every way I could to test if it really was completely healed. I did the same to the rest of my body, but no pain appeared. On the stand next to my bed sat a small personal mirror. Picking it up, I gazed at the face staring back at me. I didn't have access to many mirrors for most of my life, so seeing it still felt slightly unusual. As I examined my reflection, I didn't see any signs of damage. Every scar disappeared; even the ones from before this adventure, and my teeth had realigned. I had expected to find them stained by the sap, but thankfully they instead shimmered a brilliant white.

I couldn't remember how I got healed, but I gave a nod of approval anyway and hopped out of bed. I felt the chill of the wooden floor pierce through my socks. I slipped on my tattered shoes and left the room. My body was still weak from the battle, causing me to trip over myself a few times as I walked through the building.

Murmuring voices could be heard at the end of the hall. Upon arriving there, I found Nate and Sully hunched over a table covered with faded maps, with the book we found in the ice cave as the centerpiece. Their heads shot up the moment I arrived.

"Lily! Thank God you're okay!" Nate exclaimed as he rushed to embrace me. Sully gave me a slight nod and a grin as I peeked over Nate's shoulder.

"Hey gramps, did you bring back that warm weather you left us for?" I asked with a devious smile.

"Sure thing kid, I got some in my- wait, what did you just call me?" grunted Sully.

"You're my grandpa now, aren't you?" I teased.

"Did you put her up to this, Nate? You _know_ I don't like it when people call me that," reminded Sully.

"Me?" asked Nate as he placed his hands on his hips. "I'd never do such a thing."

"Puh-lease, this was all his idea," I interjected as I poked my thumb toward the culprit.

"Gee, thanks Lil," Nate pouted.

"You two are quite the pair," Sully chuckled.

The room filled with the unfamiliar sound of laughter, a welcome sensation after what we've all endured.

"If you don't mind Sully, I'd like to have a word with Lily," requested Nate. Still in a daze, I held onto him as we crept to the door.

"Sure, I'll go check on Elena," Sully nodded, groaning as he stood from the table started toward the back room. At the mention of her name, my head snapped at Nate.

"Is she okay?" I inquired as my voice shook.

"She gave us a scare, but she'll be fine," Nate assured.

I was blinded by the sun as we stepped out onto the gravel. The villagers were wandering around cleaning up the rubble caused by the battle. Nate and I approached a fence overlooking the mountain peaks in silence, not knowing how to begin the conversation.

A few moments passed before I spoke.

"It was nice seeing the old timer. When did he get here?"

"A few days ago, I called him while you and Elena were recovering. He and Chloe took care of things while I looked after you," Nate replied with a tired sigh.

"Speaking of Chloe, where is she?" I questioned, noticing her absence.

"She went for a stroll, but knowing her she's probably up to no good," Nate smirked.

"Most likely," I agreed. While appreciating the serenity the mountains provided, I tried to recollect the awful events of my battle with Lazarević, but my mind was as blank as when I awoke.

"Dad, what happened to me during that fight?"

"Where do I start?..." Nate shrugged, scratching the back of his head.

"I don't remember much… when I try, I see nothing but blue."

"You were engulfed in flames after accidentally drinking the sap."

"I… I drank the sap?!" I repeated. I could see the horror I expressed reflecting in Nate's eyes.

"You also gained supernatural strength; heck, you were so strong I could barely keep track of you, you were moving so fast. You knocked Lazarević waaaay into the air and smashed him down into the middle of the pool of sap under the Tree of Life, causing a chain reaction, destroying the city," recalled Nate. Hearing this helped jog my memory as fuzzy images of the intense fight ran back into my mind

"What was that like?" asked Nate cautiously.

"I couldn't control it… and I only felt anger and fear," I choked. He gently rubbed my back.

"I'm so sorry Lil. If only I could've stopped him before…"

"There's nothing we could've done, Dad. My stubbornness got me here."

I thought back to our conversation in the temple room of the Cintamani stone, where we discovered the power brought to anyone who consumes it.

"Will I become one of those _things_?!" I gasped. My heart started to pound as I thought of the possible repercussions of my actions.

"Sully and I did some research and found that children are immune to the mutation. You're going to be okay, Lil," Nate assured as he put his strong arm around my shoulders. A few tears streamed down my cheeks as I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.

"Thank God…" I sighed as Nate embraced me. I heard the loud crunch of footsteps going across gravel behind us. I turned around and saw Chloe standing there, her left hand resting on her hips, which leaning toward that side.

"It's good to see you up and about!" she greeted.

"Thanks, it's good to be back," I smiled.

"So, is everything alright?" she questioned. Nate and I glanced at each other grinning.

"I'll take that as a yes," she chuckled.

Standing there in the brisk mountain air, we exchanged a moment of silence broken only by the breeze.

"Been a long strange trip, hasn't it?" asked Chloe.

"Yes, it has. You know, you should play the hero more often. It suits you," Nate complimented. Chloe considered his offer but shook her head.

"Nah," she replied, winking at me.

We twisted our heads at the sound of a creaking door to find Sully assisting Elena as she shuffled out the door.

"Tell me something, Nate. Do you love her?" I was shocked by the sudden question, but chose to keep my mouth closed.

"I'm sorry, Chloe," Night sighed.

"It's alright, just do yourself a favor cowboy... tell her."

She turned to me with a sad smile.

"Will you look after those love birds for me?"

"Absolutely. I hope we can go on another adventure together sometime, although I hope it won't involve all this drama and danger," I joked.

"I'd like that very much," she nodded.

Tense silence fell between Nate and Chloe. She lifted her hand as Nate was about to speak.

"It's my turn to walk away, but admit it. You're going to miss this ass," she gloated as she disappeared into the village. I nudge Nate playfully as Elena and Sully approached us.

"Look who's supposed to be in bed," Nate reprimanded.

"Why don't you try sleeping in a bed for hours without nothing to do," Elena replied defensively.

"Trust me Elena, I've had my fair share," Nate assure.

"Then you should know what it's like, Dad. It can get pretty boring," I added.

"How would you know when you slept the whole time?" Nate teased. I opened my mouth to retort but words evaded me.

"You have a point," I sighed in defeat.

"They're just as stubborn as you, kid," Sully joked.

"I'm not stubborn, I'm just restless," said Elena as she lightly punched Sully's arm. The four of us shuffled awkwardly before Sully spoke.

"So, no giant sapphire?"

"Sadly no, just a metaphor I'm afraid," replied Nate with a sad grin.

"A metaphor won't help with the bills, kid," said Sully as he lit his cigar.

"I'm sure something will come along," Nate shrugged.

"You sure are optimistic," Sully observed. He scanned the village as he puffed his cigar.

"Say uh, which way did Chloe go?" he asked bashfully. Nate rolled his eyes as he pointed in the direction Chloe had vanished to.

"You're a dirty old man, Sullivan!" Nate called after our partner.

"Uh-huh!" he called back.

"You made that man my grandpa, you know?" I laughed.

"He's making me regret it," Nate smirked.

Elena held onto to Nate's arm as we approached the fence to enjoy the view. The breeze blew a few leaves from the trees we stood next to.

"I haven't had a chance to thank you, Lily," Elena began.

"For what?" I shrugged.

"For protecting me from Harry's explosive. That was very brave," she complimented. My cheeks grew warm from the sudden praise.

"Y-you're welcome," I stuttered.

"Say Nate, why don't we celebrate Lily becoming a Drake once we get back to the States?" suggested Elena.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Nate agreed as he kissed her cheek. My heart fluttered as I felt the weight of my lonely past finally lift from my shoulders. I would never be alone again.


End file.
